Australia shelves plans to buy J&J COVID-19 vaccine

Australia has no current plans to add Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to its immunisation drive, as it moves away from procuring vaccines under review over blood clots.

Authorities said on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca anti-COVID vaccine doses use an adenovirus, a harmless class of common-cold viruses, to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells in the body and trigger an immune response.

But both vaccines are under review by Europe’s drug regulator after it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult vaccine recipients, although it said the advantages still outweighed the risks.

A health ministry spokeswoman said, “The government does not intend to purchase any further adenovirus vaccines at this time.”

The country’s immunisation drive was heavily reliant on the AstraZeneca vaccine, with plans to manufacture 50 million doses in the country.

Australia began vaccinations much later than some other countries due to low COVID-19 case numbers, recording just over 29,400 infections since the pandemic began.

It reported its first death of the year on Tuesday after an 80-year old man died after contracting the virus overseas, taking the total tally to 910 deaths.

Australia has been reporting zero or low single-digit cases for most days this year helping authorities to ease restrictions and putting the economy into a faster recovery trajectory.

Kamila/Reuters