Australia to give free Covid-19 vaccine as new cases slow

Canberra signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine

epa08611964 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) tours the Astra Zeneca laboratories in Macquarie Park, Sydney, Australia, 19 August 2020. The Australian government has signed a deal with AstraZeneca for a supply of a COVID-19 vaccine. EPA/Nick Moir / POOLShow less

A fresh outbreak of infections in Australia's coronavirus hot zone of Victoria eased further on Wednesday, while the country agreed on a deal to secure a potential Covid-19 vaccine that it plans to roll out cost-free to citizens.

Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday.

"Should we be in a position for the trials to be successful, we would hope that this would be made available early next year. If it can be done sooner than that, great," Mr Morrison said on Wednesday.

All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients.

"Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out," Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News.

Health authorities would also have to take into account where the highest risk of transmission is and how the vaccine works in different age groups when deciding who should get it first, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton said.

"If it does work and it's 80 to 90 per cent effective, then absolutely it will be a game changer," Mr Sutton said, although he cautioned that broad testing was still at a preliminary stage. "So, we shouldn't hang our hats on a single vaccine."

AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for Covid-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the coronavirus.

The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britain's University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca.

Mr Morrison said Australia was also looking for other vaccine deals, including with the University of Queensland and its partner, Australian company CSL Ltd.

CSL estimates first doses of the vaccine will be available for emergency use by the middle of 2021, chief executive Paul Perrault told reporters on Wednesday.

CSL said its first priority would be manufacturing the UQ vaccine, but it was also in talks to help AstraZeneca manufacture its vaccine.

____________

Video: The New Zealand spike 

____________

Mr Morrison said Australia is also talking to its Pacific neighbours, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, about supplying vaccine.

A flare-up in infections in Australia's second most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew and shut large parts of the state's economy.

The state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave. There were 12 deaths and 216 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from daily increases of more than 700 two weeks ago.

Despite the surge in the past month, Australia has avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus.

_________

Gallery: Coronavirus around the world 

• 

  A health worker sprays disinfectant on a man in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuador recently moved past 100,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. EPA

• 

  A young Hindu devotee starts his journey to the Shiva Temple after taking holy dip and performing rituals at the banks of the holy river Ganges, in Kolkata amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far claimed 50,000 lives in the country. AFP

• 

  A healthcare worker carries out a Covid-19 test at a drive-through testing facility in Melbourne, Australia. EPA

• 

  A lab technician places a face mask through a bacterial filtration efficiency tester during a media tour of a Setsco laboratory that tests surgical masks in Singapore. AFP

• 

  A mask sits on a notebook in a dorm room belonging to Kyalynn Moore-Wilson as students begin classes amid the Covid-19 pandemic on the first day of the autumn 2020 semester at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, US. AFP

• 

  A child rests on a subway car while riders wear protective masks due to Covid-19 concerns in New York, US. AP Photo

• 

  A rickshaw driver wears a face mask and a makeshift face shield made of a water bottle, following their mandatory use in all public transport services, amid the Covid-19 outbreak in Manila, Philippines. Reuters

• 

  A woman confesses to a priest in the Iglesia del Carmen, in Panama City, Panama. EPA

• 

  A demonstrator bangs a pan during a protest against the government health policies, regarding the tight lockdown measures against the spread of the Covid-19, at 9 de Julio avenue, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. AFP

• 

  Students stand in front of a mural during a protest outside the National University in Dili, East Timor, demanding equal education subsidies for all students affected by the pandemic. EPA

• 

  Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam arrives to address a news conference in Hong Kong, China. AP Photo

• 

  A youth balances on the railing of a popular site overlooking Quito, Ecuador. The country passed 100,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. AP Photo

• 

  An announcement for the Democratic National Convention is displayed on the ABC News' Good Morning America studios chyron as people look up at digital billboards on the first day of the virtual convention in New York City. AFP