Australia’s medical regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for use in Australia (for two years), with the rollout expected to start mid-to-late February.

The Pfizer vaccine has to be transported and stored at -70 degrees celsius, making it more complex to distribute and use.

 

It requires two doses, recommended 21 days apart.

 

The UK, meanwhile, has approved three vaccines, with one, the Oxford vaccine, under a cloud after researchers from the University of East Anglia warned it is ‘less effective’ in controlling the spread of the virus, and would need to be given to more than 90 per cent of the population to drive down infection rates.

 

 

The researchers therefore have recommended the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines be used as the country's prime vaccination products.

 

If their concern proves true, then Covid-19 digital and paper passports will need to list the vaccine given, with Oxford possibly downgraded to 'tier 2 protection' status.

 

The UK already faces widespread criticism for deciding to offer the second dose of vaccine 12 weeks after the first jab instead of three to four weeks as recommended by manufacturers.

 

Doctors say they understand the government's wish to protect 'as many people as possible as quickly as possible' with the first jab (in the hope that the initial protection will cause infections to fall), but say 12 weeks between jabs is an untested strategy and may backfire.

 

UK Covid-19 deaths, meanwhile, now officially exceed 100,000.