Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown for her question. We are in a very fortunate position in this country in that we have a sovereign capacity with respect to the manufacture of vaccines. In this country, we will have approximately 50 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that will be made in Australia, and they will start coming online later this month. That capacity will continue to ramp up. As that capacity ramps up, so will the vaccination rate and the supplies that we distribute to providers, out to our vaccination processors around the country. So our vaccination process in this country is largely reliant on our sovereign capacity. We have other capacities, of course. We continue to receive regular shipments of Pfizer vaccine, and of course those are being applied through the process.

Senator Watt interjecting—

I will take Senator Watts's interjection. We continue to receive, based on our schedules, our supplies of Pfizer vaccine. And we are extremely fortunate that we have contracted the local manufacture of 50 million doses of Australian-made AstraZeneca vaccine, which will start ramping up as of later this month and through April. Next week, over 1,000 GPs will start the vaccinating process, increasing to over 4½ thousand during April. So the supplies will increase based on our sovereign manufacturing capacity, and the ramping up of the vaccination process will continue as that sovereign capacity comes on supply. And later in the year we will look to other supplies being available as they go through the appropriate approval processes. (Time expired)