SYDNEY/MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – The coronavirus outbreak in the state of Victoria has further abated on Wednesday as the country has come out with a deal to secure a potential shot, which will be given to citizens free of charge.
The government inked an agreement with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to produce and distribute doses of a coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“Should we be in a position for the trials to be successful, we would hope that this would be made available early next year. If it can be done sooner than that, great,” he added.
Although all citizens will be given the doses, a medical panel will chart the priority list.
“Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News.
Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said the authorities have to take into consideration which is the most vulnerable area and how the shot works in different age groups in order to decide who gets it first.
“If it does work and it’s 80 to 90% effective, then absolutely it will be a game changer,” Sutton said warning that broad testing was still in the elementary stage. “So we shouldn’t hang our hats on a single vaccine.”
The vaccine AZD1222 was developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca.
Morrison said the government was also looking for alternative deals with the University of Queensland and Australian firm CSL Ltd.
There were 12 fatalities and 216 new infections over the past 24 hours in Victoria, which are down from more than 700 cases two weeks ago. There were just 12 new cases in three other states.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field