Australia is set to miss out on two highly effective coronavirus vaccines after companies refused to sell them to us

Australia is set to miss out on two coronavirus vaccines after companies refused to sell them, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on Wednesday.

The government has supply agreements in place for the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax vaccines and will start rolling out the Pfizer jab next month.

But unlike many other nations, Australia has not managed to get hold of vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. 

Australia is set to miss out on two coronavirus vaccines after companies refused to sell them, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on Wednesday

Moderna's vaccine is 94 per cent effective at protecting from infection and the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which unlike the others has been trialled with one shot instead of two, will be announced this week.

Asked why Australia has not signed deals to buy the Moderna jab, Professor Kelly said: 'A contract takes two parties to sign.

'We have continued conversations with Moderna. But it needs their agreement to sign such a contract. I will leave it there. A lot of these issues are commercial in confidence and I can't really talk to them.'

Asked about why a deal has not been signed for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he said: 'In terms of contracts of pre-purchasing agreements, I'm not at liberty to talk in detail. 

'There were issues we were not able to agree on with Johnson and Johnson, mainly in their court.'

The government plans to vaccinate 5 million Australians with the Pfizer jab, which is imported from overseas, and give everyone else the AstraZeneca jab, which is being made in Melbourne.

Doctors have raised concerns about the strategy because the AstraZeneca vaccine is between 62 and 90 per cent effective whereas the Pfizer jab stops infection 95 per cent of the time.

Asked why Australia has not bought more Pfizer jabs, Professor Kelly said: 'I don't have an answer to that.

'We're in virtually constant discussion with Pfizer. If there were more doses available to us then we would look into whether that was a feasible option for us to get more. So far that's not the case.' 

But he stood by plans to distribute the AstraZeneca to most Australians and challenged the focus on efficacy rates.

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'In terms of preventing death, it works 100 per cent of the time. In terms of preventing severe illness, it works 100 per cent of the time,' he told Sky News on Wednesday.

'That's exactly the same as Pfizer on that interim information.'    

Professor Kelly admitted that no-body knows how long the vaccines provide immunity for.  

'We're embarking on a long-term journey in relation to vaccination against Covid. We don't have any information about how long any of the vaccines last in terms of immunity,' he said.

'The main reason for that is they're brand new vaccines and we don't have the follow-up data in relation to that. So I don't know how long these will last, any of the vaccines we have in our portfolio.'

Professor Kelly also said there is no evidence to suggest people cannot have two different jabs if a more effective one becomes available. 

'There's also no evidence that you cannot... follow up with any of the other vaccines next year, once they become available,' he said.     

Labor health spokesman Chris Bowen rejected calls to pause the AstraZeneca rollout but criticised the government for not having more options available.

'A pause only works if you've got something to replace it with,' he told ABC radio.

WHICH VACCINES HAS AUSTRALIA SECURED? 

Pfizer:

Due to arrive in February and is already being rolled out in countries such as the UK under emergency approval.

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 51 million doses but it is still in the trial phase.

University of Oxford/AstraZeneca:

There have been 53.8 million million doses secured for Australia, which are expected to be administered from March.

University of Queensland:

Australia had ordered 51 million doses. However, the deal has been scrapped after trial participants returned false positive results for HIV.