NEIL BREEN:
From next month, Queenslanders will be able to access a third vaccine option, the Moderna vaccine. Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced the US-manufactured vaccine had been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia. Doses are expected to arrive from September, with the number increasing each month until the end of the year. Professor John Skerritt is the Head of the TGA. He joins me on the line. Is he there?
Professor Skerritt, how are you?
JOHN SKERRITT:
Fine, thank you.
NEIL BREEN:
So, Moderna, Moderna vaccine. So we're going to have it now?
JOHN SKERRITT:
Yes, it's the fourth vaccine we've approved. There's another one that's mainly for use in the Pacific, the Janssen vaccine. The Moderna will start to arrive in Australia next month.
NEIL BREEN:
And so, when do you think people will be able to access it? When are they going to get a Moderna vaccine in their arm?
JOHN SKERRITT:
During September. Companies like to know that there's actually an approval before they ship. And the Government is now going through all the negotiations, saying, hey, we've got all the approvals, let's start planning getting this vaccine onto the aeroplanes.
NEIL BREEN:
Okay. So, 10 million doses by the end of the year. Sort of, what will they be? First and second doses, what are you think they'll be and where will they be available?
JOHN SKERRITT:
So, this vaccine will serve two roles. It will be first and second doses, particularly through pharmacies. But there may well be other sources that provide it. As you know, we're standing up vaccinations in all sorts of scenarios at the moment. But also, it'll be a really important vaccine as a booster. So, other people, and I've had my first and second shots of AstraZeneca, when we do come to need a booster, and that may be next year, it'll likely be a messenger RNA vaccine like Moderna or Pfizer.
NEIL BREEN:
Is it much different to Pfizer and AstraZeneca? It's more like Pfizer, am I right?
JOHN SKERRITT:
It's much more like Pfizer. It's a messenger RNA vaccine. That means that the mes- it produces the protein in your body. Your genes, none of those things change. So, it's got a very similar safety profile to Pfizer. It does have the advantage that it can be stored at domestic freezer temperatures throughout. But it has a lot of similarities, but of course, it's a different product from a different company. And it just shows that the technology has worked really well, this messenger RNA technology. And I predict in five or 10 years, it'll be used for all sorts of vaccines, and even for treatments of things like cancer.
NEIL BREEN:
I'm talking to Professor John Skerritt, the Head of the TGA. What are you thinking that we'll end up doing? Do you think that, you know, like I've got- I'm double vaccinated with AstraZeneca. So next year if I need a booster, I don't necessarily have to stick with the same one? I can just move off and morph onto Pfizer or whatever, or Moderna?
JOHN SKERRITT:
So there's a lot of work- I mean, there's a lot of work going on about boosters and even boosters may or may not be needed. And boosters can be needed if the response drops off or with new variants.
And so with a flu vaccine, which we're all familiar with. We get a flu vaccine every year for both of those reasons. So, your immunity against the flu doesn't last forever if you have one flu shot. And also, there's new flu strains that come every year. Now, with COVID, with new strains coming along, the good news with the Moderna vaccine is there is- the persistence of the response seems to be quite good.
Now, is it forever? Probably not. But yes, you can have a Pfizer or a Moderna booster, that's what the scientists among us believe, if you've originally had AstraZeneca.
NEIL BREEN:
Professor Skerritt, after this crazy debate where all of a sudden Australians knew the actual names of vaccines. We've never known the names of vaccines before. No one in Australia can tell you what flu shot they got, right? Nobody. But they can tell you AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna. We're going to go from this big debate and where they are and there's not enough supply, we're going to have stacks and stacks of vaccines by about 12 months' time, aren't we?
JOHN SKERRITT:
Well, we are and that holds us in good stead. It holds us in good stead for boosters. It holds us in good stead as an insurance policy. So, for example, the University of Queensland vaccine which actually is a good vaccine, but the- for a number of reasons it wasn't able to be commercialised. So it's a bit of an insurance policy. But the other thing that we've got to remember is, we've been able to donate vaccines and we have a commitment to donate vaccines to countries that are less fortunate. So, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Christmas Island, Indonesia.
NEIL BREEN:
[Talks over] That's right. Fiji.
JOHN SKERRITT:
So [indistinct] be a good corporate citizen… Fiji. In fact, with Fiji, there is a team of 11 Australians out there helping the Fijian Government put vaccines into arms.
NEIL BREEN:
Yeah. We've got to do our bit. We've got to- Professor John Skerritt, Head of the TGA, thanks so much for joining us on 4BC Breakfast.
JOHN SKERRITT:
Thank you and good morning.
Contact
