Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Queensland in collaboration with a domestic pharmaceutical company, CSL, did not achieve the desired results. Results of the first-stage trial of 216 volunteers showed that, although no serious side effects were reported, some of the trial participants were false-positive for HIV. Therefore, this vaccine will not be tested in phase 2 and 3 while phase 1 of the testing process will still be underway to collect and analyze data for future studies.
Facing this fact, this morning (December 11), Prime Minister Morrison confirmed that the vaccine developed by scientists at the University of Queensland will no longer be part of Australia’s vaccine plan. Mr. Morrison also said Australia will reallocate resources and capabilities to ensure the planned supply of vaccines. Specifically, Australia will buy additional 31 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax. Thus, the number of Covid-19 vaccines that Australia ordered from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will increase to 53.8 million doses, and the number of vaccines ordered by Novavax will be up to 51 million doses.
In a related statement, the Ministry of Health confirmed that Australia is currently among the countries with the highest rate of vaccine purchase and supply in the world. So far, Australia has ordered more than 140 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, enough to supply the population and early completion of the program of vaccination to prevent pandemics in 2021. Besides, in addition to ensuring vaccines for About 26 million people, the number of vaccine Australia ordered is also used to help countries in the region fight the global pandemic.