So where is Australia at when it comes to rolling out a mass vaccination program?
In light of the decision to abandon the University of Queensland's vaccine candidate over potential interference with HIV testing, the government has invested in three options.
Firstly, it's boosted its purchase of the Oxford University Astra Zeneca vaccine to 53.8 million doses. It's yet to be approved anywhere, but results suggest it’s 90 per cent effective.
51 million doses of the US company Novavax option have been ordered – which also still needs further trials.
And 10 million doses of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine – rated 95 per cent effective – are on their way but unlike the others,– Its new 'm' or 'messenger' -RNA technology can’t be produced on Australian soil yet.
An epidemiologist from the University of South Australia, Professor Adrian Esterman says Australia has also joined the World Health Organisation's COVAX initiative, a program consisting of over 189 countries that have vowed to share any successful vaccines.
That gives us access to about ten other vaccines that are currently being developed. One of them being Moderna. Which has just gone to the FDA in the US for emergency authorisation. So we would get access to that eventually as well.
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The federal government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone's app store.
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