Advertisement
Medical researchers and scientists have been lobbying the Morrison government for almost a year about the need to develop an mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity in Australia, but action was delayed until a few months ago.
Some researchers began advocating last August for work on “messenger RNA” technology, which is behind the success of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and whose usefulness became clear as the global pandemic intensified last year.
Australian scientists and industry groups want to develop onshore capacity to make vaccines like the Pfizer mRNA shot.
Credit:Getty
However, it was not until May this year that the government issued a so-called “approach to market”, inviting interested parties to provide a fully-costed proposal to manufacture the vaccines in Australia within one to three years. A dozen proposals to make the vaccines locally are now being considered.