Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination plan hits another setback

• Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination plan has suffered another setback, with Novavax announcing supply shortage will delay the production of its jabs
• The Federal Government has ordered over 50 million doses from the drugmaker, but is now unlikely to receive the vaccines until the end of 2021
• The news comes as the government’s main vaccine order from AstraZeneca was paused from being rolled out to those under 50, due to rare blood clot risks
• Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is now the preferred vaccine for immunisations, but the Government won’t receive more doses of the jab until the end of the year
• The Prime Minister has promised to address the slow timeline via additional cabinet meetings with state and territory leaders
• Scott Morrison has also given the green light for mass vaccination hubs to be set up across the country for when vaccines begin arriving

Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination plan has suffered another setback, with Novavax announcing a supply shortage will delay the production of its jabs.

Latest delay

The Federal Government has ordered over 50 million doses from the drug-maker but is now unlikely to receive the vaccines until the end of 2021.

The delay is due to Novavax announcing it had pushed back the timeline for producing 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per month.

The U.S. biotech company said supply shortages would stop it from hitting its planned production target until the third quarter of 2021.

Novavax had previously been aiming for full-scale vaccine production to be achieved by mid-year.

The news of the delay comes after the Australian Government’s main vaccine order from AstraZeneca was also paused due to rare blood clot risks.

The government and health authorities are advising those aged under 50 to avoid taking this specific vaccine, with two Australians suffering complications post jab.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is now the preferred vaccine for under-50s, but Australia won’t begin receiving more doses of that jab until the end of the year.

Government response

The Prime Minister has promised to address the slow COVID-19 vaccination timeline via additional cabinet meetings with state and territory leaders.

“There are issues we are trying to deal with as a federal government,” Scott Morrison began.

“But among the states and territories, they are also tackling their own unique issues and working together we are all going to be in a better position to find the best solutions,” he said.

“National Cabinet will convene on Monday, April 19, and will meet bi-weekly for the foreseeable future until we solve the problems and get the program back on track,” the PM added.

Scott Morrison has also given the green light for mass vaccination hubs to be set up across the country for when vaccines begin arriving.

“We have a strong GP network of 4000 to work the vaccines through.” the PM explained.

“Equally there’s an option — and I’ve discussed this with at least one premier — about how mass vaccination could be an option earlier, say in  June or July, for those over-50 groups that are in the balance of the population,” he added.

“We want to ensure we can get systems in place, to understand the risks associated with that, what resourcing is required and to be able to direct those programs as a National Cabinet. That’s what the meetings are for,” he said.