Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says a “sovereign vaccine” is the way forward to “saving” the country from the COVID-19 virus.
“We’ve seen over 37 million cases (globally) this year alone – over 850 thousand lives lost. Whilst the numbers have dropped significantly since January – sadly we’ve seen an uptick in the last week”, he said.
“We need to be ever vigilant. That’s why our plan – in particular – of containment, of testing and tracing and distancing on top of our borders has been fundamental.
“But we also have to continue with the vaccination program.”
Mr Hunt said the way forward would be helped immensely by the domestic production of a vaccine.
“As we bring onboard a sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability – the likes which is available to few other countries – we give ourselves the capacity to vaccinate the nation, to provide that certainty and to provide that pathway out.
“That is about saving lives and saving livelihoods.”