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

I thank the senator for the question. As Senator Birmingham indicated earlier, there is at this point in time no approved vaccine available for children aged five to 12. That process is still being undertaken, with research being done by ATAGI, which of course will be followed up by the appropriate work by the TGA. So we don't at this point in time have an approved vaccine available for children aged five to 12. While that process is continuing, preparations are being made to ensure that, if the appropriate approvals are put in place, we have supplies available to us to commence a vaccination program. But, at this point in time, we don't have the full range of data to be able to approve a vaccine program for children aged five to seven.