Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Van. Again, that is an important question. The government has announced two new purchase agreements for the supply of promising COVID-19 vaccines. Access to these vaccines is subject to clinical trial outcomes on the safety and effectiveness of each candidate and approval by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration. A diverse vaccine portfolio is a key component of Australia's COVID-19 vaccine and treatment strategy. The new agreements build on the Australian government's existing commitments to the Covax Facility, the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the University of Queensland CSL vaccines. To date the Morrison government has invested more than $3.3 billion across five separate agreements with local and international pharmaceutical companies. While there are no guarantees, this is encouraging news coming out of global vaccine trials over recent days.