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Image posted, Oxford University
Australia will keep applications for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine but cancel another type of vaccine
Australia gave up production of a promising coronavirus vaccine after some test participants showed infection with HIV, which causes AIDS, but it later became clear that these results were incorrect.
Australia had agreed to buy 51 million doses of the vaccine being developed by an Australian company called CSL and the University of Queensland.
The Australian government said that requests for other vaccines will make up the shortfall.
The Australian company and the University of Queensland emphasized that the positive results they obtained were incorrect, meaning that the health of the test participants is not at risk.
The Australian government said it has now signed an agreement allowing it to purchase the Novavax vaccine and has also increased its current order for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
The UK was the first country to launch the use of the Pfizer vaccine this week.
What happened to the CSL vaccine and the University of Queensland?
The vaccine has undergone a phase 1 trial and has been shown to be effective in generating antibiotics.
But it also produced HIV-related antibiotics in some of the volunteers, meaning the virus showed positive infection in these people.
However, other tests showed that the volunteers were not infected with HIV.
CSL and the University of Queensland said it would take about a year to treat this defect, which required cancellation of the tests.
“The vaccine is likely to be successful,” said Brendan Murphy, secretary general of the Australian Department of Health, “but we knew with confidence that we did not want problems.”
He added: “These tests, which showed some volunteers were unfairly injured, may have caused some confusion and lack of confidence.”
Paul Murphy, co-president of vaccine production, described the cancellation decision as “devastating” after 11 months of “strenuous efforts to make this project a success.”
“At a time when making a decision of this type faces difficulties, there is an urgent need for the vaccine to be a priority for all,” he said.
Other medical experts also praised the University of Queensland’s “realistic” decision to abandon the vaccine, saying it reflects the fact that the vaccine is being developed.
“Overall, about 90 per cent of vaccines never make it to the market,” said Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious disease expert at the Australian National University, the Australian National University.
He added: “As a single global community, we cannot cope with unprecedented speed and success with the continued development of Covid-19 vaccines.”
What does that mean for Australia?
Australia has completely ruled out the spread of the virus in society, after it managed to contain the epidemic in recent months.
Professor Murphy said the nation is in a “wonderful situation” right now, but that there will be “full population coverage” thanks to two vaccines in 2021.
On Friday, he added: “We do not need an emergency approval, we are in a good position because we have managed to control the virus.”
“That is why I am very confident in the successful vaccination strategy that we will follow next year,” he added.
The government said it was prepared to deal with such a situation and concluded several agreements to obtain the required vaccine.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that focusing Australian manufacturing efforts on other vaccines means that “we are more likely to engage in vaccination efforts sooner than before than later.”
The researchers said that the Oxford vaccine has been shown to be “safe and effective” but is awaiting approval from regulatory authorities around the world.
Australians will be allowed to receive the vaccine in early 2021, likely the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Australia is reported to have a population of 25 million. Last week, the country registered one case of transmission.
The death toll in Australia has reached 908 people and 28,000 cases so far during the outbreak; this is significantly lower than in other countries.
Australia’s efforts have been praised for its swift response to tackle the epidemic through border closures, country lockdown measures and intensive pandemic monitoring efforts.
However, the government was blamed for some failures due to the deaths.
The state of Victoria defeated the worst outbreak of the epidemic in the country, after four months of severe lockdown in the state capital, Melbourne.
