Australia OKs funding for two potential vaccines

(FILE) Screengrab taken from video issued by Britain’s Oxford University, showing microbiologist Elisa Granato, being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK for a potential coronavirus vaccine, untaken by Oxford University, England, Thursday, April 23, 2020. The first vaccine trial for COVID-19 Coronavirus has begun Thursday. (Oxford University Pool via AP)

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia announced on Monday it had struck supply and production agreements with pharmaceutical companies worth 1.7 billion Australian dollars ($1.2 billion) over two potential COVID-19 vaccines.

Under the agreement, Britain’s University of Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Australia’s University of Queensland working with CSL will provide more than 84.8 million vaccine doses for Australia’s population of 26 million people, almost entirely manufactured in the Australian city of Melbourne, a government statement said.

Australians would have access to 3.8 million doses of the University of Oxford vaccine in January and February, it said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said both vaccines would need to be proven safe and effective and meet all necessary regulatory requirements before being made available to the public. Any vaccine would be free to all Australians.