Health Minister Supports Having ‘As Many COVID Vaccines on the Market as Possible’

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler has revealed Australia wants to see as many COVID-19 vaccines on the market as possible. The minister expressed this goal under questioning from “Teal” Independent MP Monique Ryan about vaccine access and medicine shortages. Dr. Ryan was concerned about her constituents not being able to access the Novavax and Shingrix vaccines, along with other medicines they “need and deserve.” This comes after Novavax pulled its application for Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) registration in Australia recently. Mr. Butler noted the Novavax original vaccine was finally approved and made available a couple of years ago in Australia. “Take up was pretty low and it dropped off very quickly. The original vaccine was withdrawn from the market more than 12 months ago in Australia because essentially Novavax stopped making it,” Mr. Butler said told Parliament on June 3 (pdf)....