Australia approves vaccine
CANBERRA: Australians are on track to start receiving Covid19 vaccinations from late next month after the country’s medicines regulator yesterday provisionally approved the Pfizer jab.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the vaccine for people aged 16 and over after it met standards for safety, quality and efficacy.
Aged care and disability residents and workers, frontline healthcare staff, as well as quarantine and border employees are at the front of the queue.
Two doses at least 21 days apart will be required.
While the programme is now slated to start in late February, the federal government has conceded shipping or production issues could delay it to early March.
The lateMarch target to vaccinate four million people has been pushed back to early April because of global supply chain issues.
‘‘There will be swings and roundabouts on this process,’’ Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday.
About 80,000 shots were expected to be administered a week during the initial phase before ramping up.
Morrison said the vaccination rollout would not immediately lead to a relaxation of restrictions for international travel, social distancing or masks.
‘‘It is not a silver bullet because there are still limitations to what these vaccines can do,’’ he said.
Provisional approval means the Pfizer vaccine can be supplied for two years subject to strict conditions.
Health secretary Brendan Murphy said authorities had closely monitored concerns in Norway, where about 30 elderly frail people died after receiving the Pfizer jab.
‘‘The TGA advice, and we have obviously been concerned about this, for the very elderly and frail, that will need a very careful clinical decision,’’ he said.
A World Health Organisation expert panel found no evidence the vaccine had contributed to the deaths.
Advice over vaccine safety for pregnant women is expected to be handed to the Government before the jabs start to be administered.
It is not known whether vaccines stop transmission of Covid19, but data is expected to filter through in coming months.
TGA leader John Skerritt said the regulator would continue to monitor and review the safety of the vaccine.
‘‘We now check the individual batches of vaccines that are destined for Australians while closely monitoring the safety and efficacy of the vaccine as it is rolled out,’’ he said.
Regulatory review for the AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines is ongoing.
Yesterday marked one year since the first Covid19 case was diagnosed in Australia, which has since had more than 28,700 cases and 909 deaths. — AAP