The Prime Minister says the Commonwealth government has secured an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
This would increase the total number of Pfizer vaccines agreed to be delivered to Australia to 40 million, however the extra 20 million aren’t expected to arrive until the fourth quarter of the year, PM Scott Morrison said.
“We will obviously be doing everything we can to seek to move that forward where we can but that is very welcome news,” Mr Morrison said.
The vaccine roll-out change comes after a late-night announcement from the PM on Thursday in response to concerns around a rare but dangerous blood clotting side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which up until now has been the main vaccine focused on by the government.
The Pfizer jab is now the preferred vaccine for Australians aged under 50.
Speaking on Friday, Mr Morrison said the change did not mean there would be a ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine and he expected millions of Australians would still receive it.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine is well suited to address those critical vulnerable groups.”
