John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2020 we lived in hope that things would return to normal, so this week's announcement of the vaccine rollout have been music to our ears. Finally, we can see light at the end of the tunnel. The Prime Minister joined me at AstraZeneca's headquarters in Bennelong to announce our first vaccine back in August. Since then, we've had announcements from Pfizer and more vaccine announcements from CSL that vaccines would be made here, announcements that vaccines had been approved and, finally, this week that vaccines are going into arms.

These simple announcements belie the huge amount of effort at all levels to make this possible—from the nurses, who are administering the vaccines, to the TGA, who have approved these vaccines with record speed. And, of course, we must thank the scientists at AstraZeneca, Pfizer and other companies who have worked miracles in making these vaccines viable in such a short time. Bennelong is home to many of the pharmaceutical companies that have been working on these miracles, and many of these incredible scientists are local residents. We're all so grateful for the efforts everyone has put in over the last year, and we thank everyone who has given up so much to keep us safe.