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Australia doubles Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine order as AstraZeneca fears upend rollout

Australia has doubled its order of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as the country raced to overhaul its inoculation plan over concerns about the risks of blood clots with the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine.
Until late Thursday, Australia based its vaccination program largely on an AstraZeneca shot, with an order for 50 million doses - enough for the required two shots for its entire 25 million population - to be made domestically by biopharma CSL Ltd.
But Australia has now joined a host of countries in restricting use of the vaccine due to clotting concerns. Local health authorities have changed their recommendation to say the country’s nearly 12 million people aged under 50 should take the Pfizer product instead.
As a result Australia has doubled an earlier Pfizer order to 40 million shots, enough for four-fifths of the population, which would be delivered by the end of the year, Morrison said.
The policy change to Pfizer effectively ends plans to have the entire population vaccinated by the end of October.
“It is not a prohibition on the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra after a national cabinet meeting to discuss the virus response.
“For those who are over 50, there is a strong encouragement to be taking this AstraZeneca vaccine.”

After Australia opened a quarantine-free travel zone with neighboring New Zealand, Morrison said he hoped to make similar arrangements elsewhere in the region, and “the more Australians who are vaccinated, the more likelihood there is of being able to have the types of arrangements that I mentioned”.
Health Secretary Brendan Murphy called the policy change “highly precautionary” given the low rates of possible adverse effects associated with the AstraZeneca shot.
More than a dozen countries have at one time suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but most have resumed, with some, including France, the Netherlands and Germany, recommending a minimum age.
Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, home to nearly a third of the population, said it was pausing the AstraZeneca rollout to update “informed consent” documents to notify patients of risks.
Before the updated Pfizer order was announced, AstraZeneca said it respected the Australian decision and was working with regulators around the world “to understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events”.
CSL said it remained committed to meeting its contracted arrangements to make the vaccine.
‘Eggs in one basket’
As well as the AstraZeneca and Pfizer contracts, Australia ordered 51 million doses of a vaccine being trialed by US pharmaceutical giant Novavax Inc, but local authorities say they do not expect to approve the product until late 2021.

Australia also embarked on a home-grown option - as opposed to local manufacture of AstraZeneca’s offshore-developed product - with University of Queensland undertaking a trial of its own vaccine. That trial was aborted in December when the product was linked to false positives in HIV tests.
The government said in January that it planned to have four million vaccinated by the end of March, only to have 600,000 by that time. The number was just over one million as of Friday, the authorities said.
“Australians won’t forget who is responsible for failing to deliver on what are his own promises and his own commitments,” opposition Labor leader Anthony Albanese told reporters on Friday.
“They should have listened to the expert advice that was given to the government, and indeed to all governments, about not placing all our eggs in one basket”.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country was still assessing the AstraZeneca vaccine, without specifying whether the Australian decision would affect it.
The Pfizer vaccine is the only inoculation approved by New Zealand, which says it has ordered enough for its five million population.
Australia began vaccinations later than some other countries because of its low number of infections, which stand at just under 29,400, with 909 deaths, since the pandemic began.
source: Reuters
Image source: Reuters
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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