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Australia to manufacture coronavirus vaccine and give it free to citizens

Russia’s Coronavirus Vaccine Sputnik V Public Release

Amidst the rising numbers of cases coming forward each day, Australia has eased the tension with the news of a free coronavirus vaccine. The Federal government was successful in sealing an international deal aimed at securing a free vaccination for the virus. An agreement was signed with a UK centered drug company named “AstraZeneca”, the agreement concerned the vaccination developed by the Oxford University. However, the only condition for the vaccine to be made available to the public for free was that trials must prove to be successful. According to various media reports, Prime Minister Scott Morrison guaranteed the public that if the trials proved to be successful, the government would immediately invest in mass production of the vaccine. He also assured the public that the vaccine would be available for free for the Australians.

The vaccine may be made available earlier than anticipated. Oxford University has stated that the vaccine is in its third phase of the trial. Thousands of people have volunteered for the testing.  Oxford is considered the front-runner in the race to produce an effective vaccine. Among the 160 candidates working day and night to produce an effective vaccine, Oxford University is the first have started trials. It is expected that Australia will begin making these free vaccines available locally by the end of 2020. The Oxford University researchers are developing this vaccine from a virus that is genetically engineered to induce symptoms of common cold and flu in chimpanzees. Researchers have manipulated this virus to make it imitate the coronavirus. This will enable our immune system to attack the altered virus. The vaccine will not inject the coronavirus, but another virus that resembles coronavirus. Oxford researchers are positive that this virus will invoke an immune response from the body. 1,077 people volunteered for trials. The results demonstrated positive signs that this genetically engineered virus triggered an immune response from the body. Further trials and tests are being conducted to ensure a hundred percent success rate. Once the trials are complete, this vaccination will be made available for free in Australia.

Needless to say, Australians and the rest of the world are eagerly waiting for the vaccine to complete its trial phase. It is expected that things would return to normalcy when the vaccine is available for free. Prime Minister of Australia also told the press that the purpose behind making this coronavirus vaccine free of cost is that every citizen has access to it. The 25 million Australians have highly appreciated this gesture. Once the vaccine is available, the travel restrictions and SOPs are likely to be eased.  To ensure that the vaccine is easily available, the Australian government has also entered into negotiations with Becton Dickinson, the renowned medical manufacturer. Agreements have been signed for millions of needles and syringes so that the vaccine can be promptly injected once it is made available. If the trials continue to illustrate positive results, the vaccine might be available earlier than the end of 2020.

About the author

Saman Iqbal

Saman is a law student. She enjoys writing about tech, politics and the world in general. She's an avid reader and writes fictional prose in her free time.







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