Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has defended rollout plans for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and sought to ease concerns about its efficacy.
His stance comes after questions were raised about whether the vaccine would be effective enough to generate herd immunity.
The safety of the vaccine is not in question. Rather, some critics have asked whether it is effective enough to smother the spread of coronavirus.
Clinical trials have shown the AstraZeneca vaccine has an efficacy rate of between 62 per cent and 90 per cent, which is below other leading vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna.
Dr Kelly said Australia should remain confident in the vaccine rollout plan.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine is effective, it is safe and it’s a high-quality vaccine, but those are the things that the TGA will be looking at with their full approval coming very soon,” he told the ABC.
“We’re not the only country in the world that has AstraZeneca ordered. AstraZeneca is one of the mainstays of the global response and remains so.”
Australia has supply agreements in place for the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax vaccines.
The government has ordered 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and plans to give it to most Australians, pending approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Phase three trial results from the AstraZeneca vaccine published in the Lancet showed the vaccine was 62.1 per cent effective at preventing disease when given in standard doses.
In another small group of volunteers who received a lower dose this rate rose to 90 per cent.
Vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer have achieved higher than 90 per cent efficacy, according to medical trials.
Australian Medical Association’s President Omar Khorshid said the government hadn’t put all its “eggs” in one basket in relation to sourcing vaccines.
“We do know that they’re all safe, and we do know that they all seem to prevent you getting sick with COVID so that’s a really important thing,” he told Channel Nine’s Today.
Labor health spokesperson Chris Bowen is urging the government to secure more deals.
“It would be better if the Federal Government had more deals, more advanced supply agreements in place,” he told the ABC.
With AAP.
