Australia has joined the race of manufacturing the covid-19 vaccine for its 25 million citizens. The country has obtained access to a “promising” vaccine for the coronavirus disease, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said Australia has secured a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to get “early access” of the vaccine that it is developing with Oxford University.
“The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian,” he said.
“If this vaccine proves successful, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians.”
“There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis. We’re talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world,” he added.
The Australian government has said that up to 95 percent of its population would need to be vaccinated for the virus to be eradicated. “We need the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get Australia back to normal,” Morrison said.
The Oxford vaccine is one of the five vaccine candidates s that have reached Phase 3 trials and is expected to be launched by the end of this year.
While Prime Minister assured that he has reached the deal with AstraZeneca, he also asserted that the Australian government is also in talks with other potential candidates to secure the vaccine.
Currently, five vaccines – three western and two Chinese – are in Phase 3 efficacy trials to curb the covid spread.
Australia has meanwhile recorded 23,773 confirmed coronavirus cases. While 14,924 have recovered, 438 casualties have been reported in the country.