Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

As the Prime Minister and the health minister stated last week, the government signed a letter of intent with a UK based drug company, AstraZeneca, which means Australians will get access to the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for free should trials prove successful, safe and effective. The government and AstraZeneca have committed to working together so that all Australians will get access to such a vaccine. Of the 160 different vaccine projects in the world, the Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising. Crucially, the letter of intent between the government and AstraZeneca covers all of the steps that are needed to bring a new vaccine to market. It covers vaccine development, production and distribution. The government will continue discussions with many of these developers while at the same time backing Australian researchers. We will continue to take advice from our best medical, scientific and manufacturing experts.