Pfizer vaccine - Provisional approval an important step

The hard work of rolling out Australia’s biggest mass vaccination program can begin now that the TGA has given provisional approval to the Pfizer vaccine, Dr Khorshid said.

“The AMA has been working with Minister Hunt and the Department over the past few weeks to ensure that GPs are at the forefront of this campaign. This means we will be prepared for rollout once we have approval and supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

AMA Vice President, Dr Chris Moy, said it was great news that the TGA had been able to go through all the proper checks, unlike in other countries that are in health emergencies.

“Now comes the enormous task of epic proportions of actually getting the vaccine out there,” Dr Moy told Sky News.

“There'll be a delay because of batch testing where the vaccine still has to come to Australia, and we're going to batch test them to make sure they're absolutely right. And then afterwards it then becomes this huge, huge endeavour which is going to be incredibly important to protect the Australian community.”