Health Minister Greg Hunt has reconfirmed Australia's current coronavirus vaccine schedule with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, as the European Union introduces tighter rules on exports of COVID-19 shots.
The European Commission has agreed on a plan to control exports of vaccines from the EU to a number of countries, including Australia, after supply shortages were reported.
The restrictions give EU citizens priority and ensure the pharmaceutical giants seek approval before sending doses abroad.
However, in a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for Mr Hunt said the government remained on track for a late February start to the Pfizer vaccine rollout, with about 80,000 doses initially expected to be available per week.
The AstraZeneca international dose is on track for a March rollout, subject to approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, with the latest advice suggesting about 1.2 million offshore doses will be supplied during March.
"These projections already take into account global supply challenges for both Pfizer and AstraZeneca and European regulatory proposals," the spokesperson said.
"They were confirmed by the country heads of Pfizer and AstraZeneca in discussions with the minister for health prior to Monday’s announcement and have subsequently been reaffirmed by both companies."
The spokesperson said Australia's certainty of supply was also underpinned by a domestic production agreement with CSL and AstraZeneca, with that supply now expected to start in late March.
Meanwhile, Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester told ABC News on Saturday that Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne would represent Australia's interests to the WHO.
'This is an insurance policy'
The European Commission announced its plan to control exports of vaccines from the EU on Friday, arguing it needed to do so to ensure its own supplies.
The EU has publicly rebuked AstraZeneca for failing to deliver vaccine shots as promised, with a shortfall of up to 60 per cent in the first quarter. EU countries have also received fewer Pfizer and Moderna vaccine deliveries than expected.
EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference the export monitoring and controls were "time limited", initially lasting until the end of March, and applied to COVID-19 vaccines the EU had bought in advance.
The bloc could block the export of a vaccine if it determined that this could undermine the EU's own supplies.
"This is an insurance policy," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a news conference. The commission has stressed that it is not an export ban.
Donations to COVAX, designed for poorer countries, will be exempted, as will a large number of EU neighbours, including Norway, Switzerland and countries of the western Balkans and North Africa.
Drugmakers will have to request export authorisation in the EU country where the vaccine is manufactured. That country would consult with the Commission to take a decision in two working days.
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides is talks to the media in Brussels, Belgium, on 29 January. Source: Getty Images
The International Chamber of Commerce said the move risked triggering a chain of retaliatory action by other countries that would erode essential vaccine supply chains.
The measure has already come under criticism, seen as a repeat of controls of protective equipment such as masks at the start of the pandemic.
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With reporting by AAP and Reuters.
