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Australia has abandoned testing of its own COVID-19 vaccine after several test participants gave false positives for HIV, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed today, cited by DPA.
According to scientific advice, work on the vaccine, developed by the University of Queensland and the biotechnology company CSL (CSL), will not be able to continue and the drug will no longer be part of Australia’s vaccination plan, the prime minister said.
The Australian vaccine was one of four the government hoped to use. An agreement was reached to provide 51 million doses of the vaccine, notes BTA.
CSL emphasizes that none of the participants in the trials were infected with HIV.
In the design of the vaccine, university scientists have included a small fragment of a protein derived from the HIV virus.
Although the scientists confirmed that the protein fragment posed absolutely no threat to the health of the vaccinated people, they found a partial formation of antibodies in response to this fragment. Therefore, there is a possibility that some HIV tests that look for these antibodies will be affected and lead to false positive results, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
He said the risk of false positives for HIV was known from the beginning.
Morrison said the government has increased orders for other possible vaccines.
Australia
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