About 350,000 Covid-19 doses arrived in Sydney overnight, with another delivery of 700,000 doses due to arrive on Sunday.The doses will be distributed to more than 1800 pharmacies around the country and ready to be administered in the next week.A further 1800 pharmacies will start receiving doses in the week starting September 27.Health Minister Greg Hunt said they were the first of two million to be supplied by Moderna in September from their Belgium plant.“The additional Moderna vaccines will provide more opportunities for Australians to get vaccinated, including those aged 12-15 who recently joined the rollout, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t received a COVID-19 vaccine yet to book one today,” he said.So far more than 24 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across Australia, with more than 70 per cent of Australians having received their first jab and 45 per cent having received their second.“These are important achievements as we move closer, every day, to the vaccination rates required for us to safely reopen our country,” Mr Hunt said.The Moderna vaccine has Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is recommending its use for Australians aged 12 and over.The first batch that arrived overnight is part of Australia’s original contracted supply, while the further 700,000 due to arrive on Sunday is from the additional million doses secured from European Union member states.More than 3,640 pharmacies across the country have already put their hands up to administer the Moderna vaccine.Australia has an advance purchase agreement with Moderna to secure 25 million doses of the vaccine – 10 million this year and 15 million in 2022.The Moderna vaccine doses will go through the standard TGA batch-testing process, as do all the other Covid-19 vaccines.
Powered by WPeMatico
