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Our vaccine strategy and our vaccine policy had identified four vaccines that we believed, based on scientific advice, had the potential to pass through to the end of stage tree trials and be available here in Australia.
At no point, I can assure you, did we believe that those four vaccines would likely get through that process. If that had happened, it would have been truly extraordinary, based on the vaccine development process not just in this country, but elsewhere. That is why we share our risk. That is why we support important projects. And that’s why we prepare in advance to make sure we can solve any problems along the way.
The advice we’ve received, and the cabinet national security committee met this week and made the final decision yesterday, is that the University of Queensland vaccine will not be able to continue based on scientific advice, and that will no longer appear as part of Australia’s vaccine scheme.
However, I want to thank Prof. Paul young and to the entire team at the University of Queensland for the incredible work they have done to bring the vaccine to that stage. And we will continue to support and fund the work they are doing in molecular clamp research in vaccines, which has application in many other areas. They are doing a great job. They are amazing. I am incredibly proud of all of our scientists for the incredible work they have been doing to support us this year. So I congratulate you and thank you for all the hard work you have done this year.
