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| Coronavirus vaccine: Australia secures access to Oxford-AstraZeneca trial | Coronavirus vaccine: Australia secures access to Oxford-AstraZeneca trial |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Australia says it has secured access to a promising coronavirus vaccine and will be able to offer free doses to its entire population of 25 million people. | Australia says it has secured access to a promising coronavirus vaccine and will be able to offer free doses to its entire population of 25 million people. |
| The vaccine is being developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. | The vaccine is being developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. |
| If clinical trials are successful, the deal with AstraZeneca would secure "early access for every Australian", Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. | If clinical trials are successful, the deal with AstraZeneca would secure "early access for every Australian", Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. |
| Mr Morrison said it was likely that vaccinations would be mandatory. | |
| Australia has recorded 450 coronavirus deaths, most from an outbreak in the state of Victoria. | |
| Earlier this month, Victoria declared a state of disaster and imposed strict lockdown measures after a surge in infections. | |
| It still has more than 7,000 active cases, but the number of new infections has declined in the past week. | |
| Pledge to manufacture in Australia | |
| The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is one of five promising candidates to reach an advanced stage of clinical trials, with countries around the world seeking to secure supplies for their own populations. | The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is one of five promising candidates to reach an advanced stage of clinical trials, with countries around the world seeking to secure supplies for their own populations. |
| "If this vaccine proves successful, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians," Mr Morrison said. | "If this vaccine proves successful, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians," Mr Morrison said. |
| The cost of supplying the vaccine to the whole population has not yet been fixed. Separately, Australia has also signed a deal worth A$25m (£13.5m; $18m) with Becton Dickinson, an American pharmaceutical company, to supply 100 million needles and syringes. | The cost of supplying the vaccine to the whole population has not yet been fixed. Separately, Australia has also signed a deal worth A$25m (£13.5m; $18m) with Becton Dickinson, an American pharmaceutical company, to supply 100 million needles and syringes. |
| The deal with AstraZeneca is Australia's first such vaccine agreement. | |
| If trials were successful, Mr Morrison said he hoped the vaccine would be available early next year. Manufacturing it would require an additional few months. | |
| Would it be mandatory? | |
| Mr Morrison said he expected a successful vaccine would be "as mandatory as you could possibly make it", though his government was still forming its policy. | |
| "There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis," he told radio station 3AW. | |
| "We are talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world, and over 430 Australians here." | |
| The country would aim for 95% of the population to be vaccinated, he added. |