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ANKARA: The Australian health minister said on Wednesday that vaccines to prevent coronavirus are expected by March 2021, Anadolu Agency reported.
“We are on track to deliver vaccines to Australians, starting in March 2021. And I think that’s extremely important news,” said Health Minister Greg Hunt (pix) said at a press conference.
He was joined by John Skerritt, head of the Therapeutic Products Administration, the regulatory body for prescription drugs, vaccines and medical devices.
His comments come two days after pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their Covid-19 vaccine is 90% effective against the new infection.
He said Australia has signed an agreement with Pfizer for 10 million doses of the antigen, and has also secured a -70 degree cold chain (logistics to keep a product within a specific temperature) required to store the vaccine.
The minister revealed that agreements have also been reached with Novavax, AstraZeneca and Oxford, the University of Queensland CSL and the UN COVAX facility to purchase millions of vaccine injections for the Australian population.
He said the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines have already received a “provisional determination,” a pre-approval before receiving provisional approval.
“It essentially speeds up the process and delivers essential drugs or vaccines to Australians at a faster rate than would be the case, but with an absolute premium on safety,” he explained.
Skerritt said approval will not be given “until we are sure they meet the requirements for efficacy and safety.”
“But I hope everything goes well, that by, say, the end of January, we are in a position to be able to approve the first two vaccines,” he said.
Australia has reported 27,671 Covid-19 cases, including 907 deaths, since the outbreak, according to a tally by the US Johns Hopkins University – Called
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