Britain is running close to 4 million doses of Pfizer in Australia, where authorities are scrambling to bolster the supply of this COVID-19 vaccine and protect the population from a rapidly spreading delta variant outbreak.
CANBERRA, Australia – Britain is rapidly running 4 million doses of Pfizer in Australia, where authorities are vying to bolster the supply of this COVID-19 vaccine and protect the population from a rapidly spreading delta variant outbreak.
The swap deal announced on Friday follows Australian agreements with Singapore and Poland to address Pfizer’s short-term shortage.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said British firing would leave Britain on Saturday and double Pfizer’s Australian supplies in September.
Australia was eager to make more vaccine deals with other governments, Morrison said.
“I said I wouldn’t leave a stone unturned and I can tell you that I’ve been flipping through some calculations lately to make sure we can move the vaccination program forward as quickly as possible,” Morrison said.
“Thank you Boris, I owe you a beer,” he added, referring to his British counterpart Boris Johnson.
Australia has particularly low vaccination levels compared to other rich countries, with only 36% of Australians aged 16 or over fully vaccinated.
The Australian government has been criticized for not getting more vaccine deals with manufacturers. Australia planned to manufacture most of the vaccine for its 26 million people, including 20 million adults.
But a home-grown vaccine was abandoned during development because it produced false positive results on HIV testing. Locally produced AstraZeneca, which is the only alternative to Pfizer registered so far for use in Australia, proved unpopular with many due to the change in medical advice on the risk of blood clots. Initially, Australia bought only 10 million doses of Pfizer, but this year it has increased the order to 40 million shots.
The first of the ten million shots of the Modern vaccine is expected to be available soon.
The need for vaccines comes as Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, reported its deadliest pandemic day on Friday with 12 fatalities and 1,431 record infections. The state government predicted that the daily death toll will peak next month if the vaccination rate is maintained.
The state government plans to triple the number of beds and staff in the intensive care unit in October, when the number of COVID-19 patients is expected to peak, said the Prime Minister of New Wales. those of the South, Gladys Berejiklian.
He expects 70% of the population aged 16 and over to be fully vaccinated by mid-October.
The outbreak that began in Sydney in June spread to Melbourne, Australia’s second most populous city and the state capital of Victoria.
Victoria reported 208 new infections in the last 24 hours and one death.
New South Wales and Victoria are closed and see increased vaccinations as the only way to safely alleviate pandemic restrictions.
The Australian Capital Territory is still waiting for its blockade to clear the delta. The rest of Australia remains virtually virus-free.
Singapore delivered 500,000 shots from Pfizer to Sydney on Thursday. Australia has to pay Singapore and Britain with an equivalent number of doses in December.
Australia bought a million doses of Pfizer in Poland for an undisclosed price in August.
The Australian government expects states to end pandemic closures once 80% of the population aged 16 and over has been fully vaccinated.