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

When you look at the situation in Australia today, certainly compared to the rest of the world, it enables us to take precautions when it comes to rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine. While there are rapid rollouts, and we've certainly seen them announced last week around the world, the situation here in Australia is quite different. In fact, it's unique. Locally, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has given priority assessment to three different vaccines. The TGA is currently assessing all of the available medical evidence of these vaccines to verify that they are, indeed, safe for use in Australia. The safety of the vaccine program is, of course, our top priority as a government. We've made a deliberate decision to diversify our vaccine portfolio with a range of vaccines and all of the different data. The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine in the United Kingdom will provide us with additional information to assess the safety of the rollout of the vaccine in Australia.