Several COVID-19 vaccines are currently either in development or already rolling out across the world. When and how they will reach rural and remote communities is a question that needs to be answered.
Australia has secured 10 million doses of the 90+ percent effective Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - enough for five million people.
The University of Queensland's Associate Professor Paul Griffin told NITV News while this vaccine is "really impressive", it comes with a significant downside. Storage and transportation at temperatures of minus 70 degrees celsius are needed for the vaccine to be effective.
"If they're not kept at really cold temperatures, they can essentially degrade and, and not work so well," said Associate Professor Griffin. "Obviously, this is going to pose some logistical challenges to rolling it out, particularly to more remote areas."