Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has granted provisional approval to Oxford’s AstraZeneca COVID vaccine on the 16th of February for use in Australia. This will be the second COVID-19 vaccine to receive regulatory approval in Australia after Pfizer-BioNTech.
This means that the provisionally approved AstraZeneca COVID vaccine is included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) for the immunization of individuals who are of 18 years and older. The provisional approval for this vaccine is valid for 2 years, however, it is expected that the on-going supply will be manufactured in Australia. AstraZeneca will further submit data & information to the TGA in order to confirm that the onshore manufacturing will meet quality standards.
The vaccination should be done according to the official guideline, given in 2 doses. The 2nd dose of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine will be given after 4 to 12 weeks of the 1st dose.
Although the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine has shown positive results when given to individuals over 65 years of age, still the immunization of elderly people will be decided based on a case study to ensure safety due to the availability of limited data.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison said, “Australia’s vaccination strategy is an enormous exercise. The vaccine that we have, they address the critical issues of serious disease and indeed, the risk of fatality that can arise from Covid-19, increasingly we are seeing positive signs about its impact on transmissibility as well.”
How does AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine work?
The Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus known as adenovirus and has been modified to look more like a coronavirus.
The vaccine-induced in the cell will produce the spike protein due to which the body’s immune system reacts by producing antibodies and active T-cells to destroy spike protein cells. When this person later catches coronavirus the antibodies & T-cells are triggered to fight the virus.
Also read, India and 8 Other Countries Began Their Vaccination Drive
