#018 Why we are still waiting?

Dear Readers,

Why we are still waiting?

Vaccines for Covid-19 is now used in the UK and the United States. According to the plan by the federal government, Australians will start the vaccination program from early March 2021. Recently Prime Minister Morrison hinted that it can start a bit earlier than the original plan. So we are waiting.
Health workers and the elderly will have the priority to be the first group of people receiving the first shot, together with prisoners and people with chronic obesity. The Australian Government has invested $363 million to support research and development, to contribute to the global effort to find successful vaccines and treatments to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The Australian Government has invested more than $3.3 billion through 4 agreements, which will strengthen Australia’s position to access safe and effective vaccines when they become available.
The agreement with the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca will provide 53.8 million doses of this vaccine, with 3.8 million doses be delivered to Australia in early 2021. 50 million doses will be manufactured in Australia in monthly batches. CSL will manufacture these doses on behalf of AstraZeneca.
Novovax, if have the approval from TGA, will have 51 million doses made available in Australia during 2021.

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine has been authorised for emergency use in the UK but is yet to be fully approved and registered in any country. 10 million doses will be available for Australians in early 2021.
The Australian Government has joined the COVAX Facility as part of a global effort to support rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. This participation enables us to purchase vaccine doses for Australia as they become available. Nine vaccine candidates will be available for Australians if they are successfully approved.
Some people are puzzled why we cannot use emergency legislation to allow vaccination program to start now as in UK and US. The reason is simple. Australians are not suffering a widespread of Covid-19 now and safety of the Australians are not jeopardised. It is the role of the government not to sacrifice safety standard with the urgency of the vaccination program.
So, Australians will have a long period of Covid normal starting from now. Are you ready for it?

Regards,

Raymond Chow
Publisher, BlessingCALD