Free for everyone: coronavirus vaccine deal locked in

Scott Morrison says ‘every single Australian’ will be offered the vaccine, if and when the Oxford University trial proves successful.

The Morrison government has locked in a guarantee for the Aust­ralia-wide supply of the world’s first potential COVID-19 vaccine, under a deal signed with Britain-based drug giant AstraZeneca.

Scott Morrison has pledged that “every single Australian” would be offered the vaccine for free, if and when the Oxford University trial proved successful, which could be as early as the end of this year or early next year.

The agreement, which would ensure the vaccine was manufact­ured in Australia, is part of a multi-billion-dollar federal vaccine and treatment strategy, to be released on Wednesday and overseen by Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy, who has led the country’s pandemic response.

The candidate vaccine is in its stage three trial phase and is widely believed to show the most promise for an effective vaccine against the virus.

The Prime Minister said the agreement would mean that Australians would be poised to become the first people in the world to have access to a vaccine if the Oxford trials passed muster and went to market.

He cautioned that more work was needed to assess whether the drug was viable and safe, and said the government would work up a portfolio of potential vaccines among the 167 under trial worldwide.

“The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian,” Mr Morrison said. “If this vaccine proves successful­, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians.

“However, there is no guarantee that this, or any other, vaccine will be successful, which is why we are continuing our discussions with many parties around the world while backing our own researchers­ at the same time …”

A separate contract has been signed with pharmaceutical company Becton Dickinson for the supply of 100 million needles and syringes.

“We are taking advice from Australia’s best medical and scientific expertise to ensure that the government’s work to select, prod­uce and purchase COVID-19 vaccines and treatments is based on the best available knowledge,” Mr Morrison said.

Australian biotechnology giant CSL believes a Queensland University vaccine candidate is the most promising and has listed it as its priority for development. However, it is in talks over whether it could also provide the local manufacture of the ­Oxford vaccine.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australian officials “led by my department have been meeting with developers and manufacturers of a number of promising vaccine candid­ates … domestic and inter­national, over recent months We are confident these actions and targeted investments will put us in the best possible position to secure early access to safe and effectiv­e vaccines for Australia.”

A COVID-19 vaccines and treatments group headed by Professor Murphy met for the first time this week.

It will advise the government on a strategy for safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinations through the states and territories. It will also establish the groups of people who should be given priority acces­s to a vaccine.

Labor has accused the government of acting too slowly and failing to commit enough funds for the development of a vaccine.

Mr Hunt said ear­lier this week he was optimistic that a ­vaccine would be available by next year.