Morrison government provides legal ­indemnity to COVID-19 vaccine firms

The government has provided legal ­indemnities to Pfizer and Novavax in case there are mishaps with their COVID-19 vaccines.

A pharmacist dilutes vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Las Vegas, Nevada. Picture: AFP

The Morrison government has provided legal ­indemnities to Pfizer and Novavax in case there are mishaps with their COVID-19 vaccines.

After entering into advance purchase agreements last month with Australia, the companies will supply 61 million doses of their vaccines at a cost of $1.5bn.

According to the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, ­released on Thursday, the companies were provided with indemnities “covering certain liabilities that could result from the use of the vaccine”.

The government will cover the pharmaceutical giants’ costs if they are sued due to side effects from the vaccines.

Medical experts, including immunisation specialists and the Australian Medical Association, have called on the government to set up a no-fault vaccine injury compensation scheme before the rollout begins, which is expected to be in March. If the vaccines are not successful, the government said it has also entered into risk-sharing arrangements with Pfizer and Novavax “to limit financial exposure to the commonwealth”.

A similar arrangement is in place with the Gavi-led COVAX Facility, an international consortium which allows access to a portfolio of potential vaccines and aims to subsidise supplies to poor nations.

The government has also made an upfront payment ­towards purchase of future COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX, part of which will be returned through a risk-sharing ­arrangement should vaccine candidates not be successful.

Writing in the Australian Journal of General Practice in September, authors from the University of Sydney and the ­National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance said a vaccine compensation scheme would “increase and build trust rather than undermine confidence in vaccine programs”.

“If we are to encourage target groups to receive COVID-19 vaccines for the benefit of the entire community, much more so for young adults and the healthy who derive the least individual benefit, it follows that the Australian government should compensate for any unforeseen rare but serious adverse event deemed to be due to a COVID-19 vaccine,” the authors wrote.

An indemnity was also provided for 51 million doses of the University of Queensland vaccine candidate, sponsored by CSL subsidiary Seqirus, which will no longer proceed after phase three clinical trials were abandoned last week.

To cover part of the gap in vaccine supply, the government announced it would purchase an extra 20 million doses of the ­Oxford-AstraZeneca viral vector vaccine and 11 million more doses of the Novavax protein candidate.

According to health authorities, if proven to be safe, the Pfizer vaccine will be available from early next year, while the Novavax candidate could be here as early as the first half of next year.