Why Backing by Oxford, Australians Still Not Getting the New Coronavirus Vaccine First?

A total of 160 vaccines are currently being developed worldwide, and scientists are more confident in vaccine development than ever before. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a 'letter of intent' on Wednesday for one of the world's leading vaccination candidates, which brought great hope to the Australian people.

The letter of intent means that once the new coronavirus vaccine is approved at the end of 2020 or early 2021, the Australian people will be ranked first. But in fact, whether Australia can give priority to vaccination is still variable for the following reasons :

1. Lack of Formal Agreement

Although the letter of intent reached between the Morrison government, Oxford University and AstraZeneca (a British pharmaceutical company) is good news, it is not a formal agreement. In fact, a statement issued by the British pharmaceutical giant on Thursday appeared to refute the Morrison Administration’s statement that the premise of this agreement is to ensure the production of 25 million doses of vaccine.

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph: 'Until we have the manufacturing capabilities, the letter of intent will not disclose any details about costs or figures. This is the key part of this puzzle for both parties. Reaching a letter of intent for cooperation is a good first step, and the key next step is to determine production capacity.'

2. The Transaction Amount is Undetermined

The price of the vaccine available for all Australians has not been confirmed. But most people believe that the cost will soar to billions of dollars. In contrast, vaccine prices and agreements in other countries have been finalized.

Shadow Health Minister Chris Bowen said, 'The Prime Minister acted too early in issuing the statement, but he was delayed in resolving the substantive issues. The government believes that it is not the time to sign an agreement with AstraZeneca. But other countries have already done this. Not only the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, and Brazil have done so, but South Korea, China, Argentina and Mexico have also done so, but Australia has not yet started related matters.

3. Australia Lacks the Ability to Develop Vaccines

Today, the only organization in Australia that can develop a vaccine in a short period of time is CSL, the Australia's largest biotechnology company. The Morrison Government has reached an agreement with the biomedical giant and has begun preparations.

Morrison said to Channel 10, 'Although I am not a medical expert, I think we are capable of producing this type of vaccine in Australia. To put it bluntly, we need to develop a formula and then we can start production.' But the Australian certificate and the attitude of top listed companies on the stock exchange is much more conservative. The company is currently working with CEPI and the University of Queensland to develop a new coronavirus vaccine.

The 'Oxford-AstraZeneca' vaccine is an 'adenovirus' vaccine that has never been produced in Australia before. CSL is currently evaluating a series of measures, including the completion of the filling and surface treatment of bulk products imported into Australia, until the successful development of a licensed new coronavirus vaccine.

CSL Chief Executive Paul Perreault told the Australian Financial Review, 'We obviously want to do the right thing, but we are not sure which vaccine is effective or whether one of them is effective. Virus-based vaccines have a lot of work to be done, such as putting the virus in the factory, cleaning the facility and repeatedly verifying it, but we have not even developed the relevant process. So I can’t over-promise, I can only say that even if we try, in the end we will fail, and now we will try our best to do it.'

4. Insufficient Supply of Needles in Australia

Even if a vaccine is developed in Australia, there may not be enough syringes to support vaccination in the short term.

Just a few days ago, the Australian government reached an agreement with the American BD company to supply 100 million needles to Australia. This $24.7 million agreement means that Australia will have sufficient needle reserves. But if the vaccine is on the market before the end of 2020, there will be a shortage of syringes around the world, and any arrangements before that time will be affected.