Under the current global health crisis, there is some ray of hope and cause for celebration in Australia thanks to the new announcement made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. According to Morrison’s deal, all Australians will get a coronavirus vaccine shot free of charge. Millions of vaccine doses will be manufactured there in the country as per the new deal.
The important agreement that took place on Wednesday between Morrison and AstraZeneca will ensure that one of the most promising vaccines in the whole world will be manufactured in Australia. The vaccine is currently being developed under the keen eyes of Oxford University researchers.
When proven safe to be used Australians might be among the first countries to receive the safety shot against coronavirus, according to the Prime Minister.
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The government of the UK has also ordered 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to ensure their chances against the novel virus.
A vaccine is the world’s best chance of returning to everyday routine. For Australia, millions of Australians can only then hope to travel out of the country and resume usual travel. Currently, however as most of the world’s economies sit ravaged by the coronavirus, the nation’s borders are shut down.
The Prime Minister reminds people however that the vaccine is still under works and much is yet to be done to make sure it is safe to administer to humans and that it does not carry any adverse effects. Once it is safe, the nation promises to acquire more than 25 million doses of the vaccine to cover every individual in the country by the next year.
Mr. Morrison noted that Oxford’s vaccine is a vaccine that holds much potential among others and for this reason alone the nation has secured early access for each Australian.
He does emphasize however that there is no saying for sure whether this or any other vaccine will prove effective. For this reason, Morrison’s government is continuing to search and discuss with other parties around the globe while making sure at the same time that Australian researchers continue their search to find an effective vaccine.
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While Australia has signed a deal with the drug-making company AstraZeneca, it has also engaged with the medical manufacturer Becton Dickinson for supplying them millions of syringes and needles.
According to the ‘letter of Intent,’ vaccine production will take place in Australia and the price of the vaccine is formally agreed upon to be provided to taxpayers.
For the average Australian however the vaccine shot will be given free and will cost no additional fees.
Morrison’s government is also working to make sure early access to the coronavirus vaccine is also secured for the countries they see as their Pacific family as well as their regional partners situated in Southeast Asia.
The way the Oxford University’s vaccine works is by injecting a genetically engineered virus that acts similar to the coronavirus into people. Scientists believe that by doing so the body might be able to learn how to attack the virus. The vaccine however does not have the COVID-19 virus but instead a virus that acts like it.
Although recent trials of the vaccine on 1,077 people show signs of effectiveness, further trials are still in the process to better explain the effectiveness of the vaccine.
As for now, there is great promise in the presented preliminary data. People who have received the vaccine shot have shown a strong antibody response which suggests that the vaccine might prove effective after all after further development.
