An Australian scientist using a COVID-19 vaccine tests positive after a successful phase one trial with Novavax.
A vaccine opposite coronavirus may be available until 2021. Photo: Valerie Macon / AFP Source: AFP
An infectious disease expert testing an Australian vaccine is confident that vaccination will be done in the first part of next year.
“Obviously, we still have to go through all the stages of clinical trials, and we’re only in phase two, but I’m very optimistic,” Dr. Paul Griffin told Sunrise on Thursday morning.
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One expert said a vaccine will be available until 2021. Photo: Russian Direct Investment Fund / AFP Source: AFP
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Dr. Griffin said he believes there will be some vaccines in 2021 and at least one that is effective in immunizing others who oppose coronavirus.
He is running with researchers at the University of Queensland, where he is also an associate professor of medicine, for his vaccine.
Dr. Paul Griffin has worked on several vaccine trials. Picture: Channel Nine Source: Supplied
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The federal and Queensland governments contributed $5 million and $10 million respectively to the investigation, while Shadow Health Minister Chris Bowen on Tuesday expressed fear that the country is spending enough on potential vaccines.
Dr. Griffin also worked on the clinical trial of a vaccine from the US company Novavax, which administered the vaccine or a placebo to 130 volunteers in Melbourne and Brisbane.
There will probably be several vaccines and at least one will work, Dr. Griffin said. Photo: Valerie Macon / AFP Source: AFP
The vaccine is not only safe, but also created a strong immune reaction opposed to COVID-19.
The vaccine is expected to enter a third-largest phase next month, hoping to begin mass production next year.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his government had already developed an effective vaccine. However, experts around the world have put serious doubts about this, and the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that having a vaccine and showing it was effective were two other things.
“I hope the Russians have definitively shown that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt they did,” he told ABC News.
And Dr Roger Lord, professor of medical sciences at the Australian Catholic University, said: “Russia’s transition to large-scale production before the end of the Phase 3 trials has been described as reckless and unethical and can constitute an addition of anxiety and depression to a number of cases and deaths due to SARS-CoV-2.”