REVEALED: Australia's population will be split into 12 different age brackets for the vaccine roll-out early next year - and it's terrible news for young people wanting to travel overseas
Australians will be split into 12 different age groups that will determine how soon they receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it's rolled out in early 2021.
People over 70 will be prioritised, followed by the 65-69 age bracket. The rest of the nation will be divided into five-year increment age groups.
This means Australians in their 20s hoping to travel overseas will likely have to wait until the end of next year to get the vaccine, the Herald Sun reports.
Qantas announced last month that passengers must show proof they've been vaccinated before being allowed to fly internationally.
People over 70 will be prioritised, followed by the 65-69 age bracket. The rest of the nation will be divided into five-year increment age groups
This means Australians in their 20s hoping to travel overseas will have to wait until the end of next year to get the vaccine
There likely won't be any under-18-year-olds receiving the jab at all in 2021 as pharmaceutical companies aren't looking for approval in younger people as they are a lower risk.
The exact order of immunisation for certain age groups won't be revealed by the Federal Government until late January.
Experts will establish which groups are considered essential workers and will be bumped up in line to be vaccinated.
Frontline healthcare workers, such as doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as those in aged care will be the first to access the vaccine.
Prisoners and guards will also be among first in line as their close living proximity poses the greatest risk of spreading the virus.
Despite a vaccine trial at the University of Queensland being dumped due false positive HIV test results, Health Minister Greg Hunt expects to have early assessment of two leading vaccines - one from Pfizer and the other from AstraZeneca - by the end of January.
Australian regulators will then be asked to give the drugs the tick of approval, putting the national rollout on track to begin in March.
The company is working to finalise issues including the size of the first vaccine dose and the time before the follow-up shot.
'There are no red flags at this stage. There are only green lights,' Mr Hunt told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
The minister's comments came as New Zealand committed to forming a travel bubble with Australia by the end of March 2021.
The exact order of immunisation for certain age groups won't be revealed by the Federal Government until late January
Qantas boss Alan Joyce sparked anger from vaccine skeptics last month when he said his airline won't allow passengers to travel if they don't get the jab
WHICH VACCINES HAS AUSTRALIA SECURED?
Pfizer:
Due to arrive early 2021, but is already being rolled out in the UK and has been approved for us in Canada.
Australia secured a deal for 10 million doses, if it proves safe and effective and is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Each person would need two doses, meaning Australia's initial order would only cover five million Australians.
Novavax:
Australia has ordered 40 million doses but it is still in the trial phase.
An extra 11 million doses were ordered on Friday, taking the total to 51 million.
University of Oxford:
There have been 33.8 million doses secured for Australia. It is still in the trial phase. 20 million more doses have now been ordered, taking the total to 53.8 million.
University of Queensland:
Australia had ordered 51 million doses. However, the deal has been scrapped after trial participants returned false positive results for HIV.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce sparked anger from vaccine skeptics last month when he said his airline won't allow passengers to travel if they don't get the jab.
He predicted the rule would become standard practice around the world as governments and airlines consider introducing electronic vaccination passports.
Mandatory vaccination already exists as a condition of entry for certain countries for other diseases such as yellow fever and polio.
Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner said the 'obvious way' to kick start travel while avoiding mandatory quarantine would be to have a vaccination requirement.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said proof of vaccination or mandatory quarantine would be the only way Australia's borders would be able to reopen without the risk of another outbreak.
'We're a victim here in Australia of our own success: we've been incredibly good at stopping the spread within the country, but it makes it very hard to open the borders to countries where the spread is rife,' he said.
Why has the University of Queensland/CSL vaccine been scrapped and what happens now?
What went wrong with the vaccine?
The trials were abandoned after some participants returned false positive results for another illness - HIV.
CSL said the false positives were caused by so-called 'molecular clamp' antibodies. There were no serious adverse events or safety concerns.
There is no possibility the vaccine gave people HIV but the trial was scrapped to keep public confidence in the other vaccines.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said the vaccine was likely to have worked but 'we didn't want to have any issues with confidence.'
What is a false positive?
A false positive is when someone tests positive for a disease they do not have.
Is the whole project over?
Yes. UQ vaccine co-lead, Professor Paul Young, said that although it was possible to re-engineer the vaccine, the team did not have the time needed.
'Doing so would set back development by another 12 or so months, and while this is a tough decision to take, the urgent need for a vaccine has to be everyone's priority,' he said.
Will we have enough vaccines?
Yes. The government has deals to buy three overseas vaccines which are all on the verge of approval.
The government has secured an extra 20million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, taking the total to 53.8million, and an extra 11million doses of the Novavax vaccine, taking the total doses of that jab to 51million.
Each vaccine requires two doses, meaning either of these jabs can vaccinate the whole population of 25million.
There is also a deal for 10million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which is already being rolled out in the UK under emergency approval.
Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed everyone in Australia could be vaccinated before the end of 2021.
'At the end of the day, 31 million new vaccines purchased for Australia, and the potential for a slightly earlier completion of the rollout with the commencement process still on track for March,' he said.