Australia expects to receive its first batches of a potential COVID-19 vaccine in January next year, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday, as the number of new daily infections in the country’s virus hotspot fell to a 10-week low.
Morrison said his government has struck a deal with CSL Ltd to manufacture two vaccines — one developed by rival AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and another developed in CSL’s own labs with the University of Queensland.
Morrison said that Australia would in January and February next year receive 3.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is undergoing late-stage clinical trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.
The AstraZeneca candidate, AZD1222, is viewed as a front-runner in a global race to deliver an effective vaccine to combat the virus.
Australia had announced last month that it planned to buy AZD1222, along with an agreement of intent from CSL to manufacture it.
That plan was thrown into some doubt when CSL announced shortly afterward that it would prioritize the manufacture of its own vaccine.
Morrison’s announcement yesterday that Australia would also purchase the CSL drug if trials proved successful appeared to be the culmination of a deal to get both vaccines across the line.
The CSL vaccine is due to begin phase 2 clinical trials late this year, meaning the earliest it could hit the market would be the middle of next year.
“By securing the production and supply agreements, Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a safe and effective vaccine, should it pass late stage testing,” Morrison said in an e-mailed statement.
Should both vaccines pass clinical trials, Australia would spend A$1.7 billion (US$1.24 billion) for a total of nearly 85 million doses, Morrison said.
The agreement came as Australia’s Victoria state said 41 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day rise since June 26.
Australia’s second-most populous state has been the epicenter of a second wave, and now accounts for about 75 percent of the country’s 26,320 cases and 90 percent of its 762 deaths.
The southeastern state on Sunday extended a hard lockdown in its capital, Melbourne, until Sept. 28 as the daily infection rates had declined more slowly than hoped.
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