- Australia's medical regulator has granted provisional approval for the Pfizer [[Fy-zah]] coronavirus vaccine for those aged 16 years and older. The Therapeutic Goods Administration says the vaccine has met the standards for high safety and efficacy.
The approval means doses of the vaccine can be legally supplied in Australia, paving the way for the country's mass vaccination program to begin next month.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the approval of the Pfizer vaccine for use in Australia is an important step in the fight against CO-VID-19. Mr Morrison says that Pfizer is shipping doses in time for vaccinations to begin in late February. Mr Morrison also emphasises "And so we remain within the guard rails of the time frame that we set a few weeks ago. But obviously that will continue to come under challenge for events and circumstances that exist well beyond our shores. And it was for that reason we put the arrangements in place with CSL and AstraZeneca to ensure we would be able to produce our own vaccine here in Australia and that is happening now."
- The secretary of the federal Health Department, Brendan Murphy, says next month's mass vaccination campaign will be a huge logistical challenge.
- Misleading social media content should be brought to light so the full extent of the problem can be recognised, a coalition of Australian tech and health experts have argued. Health and technology experts are urging the federal government to pass new laws requiring big tech companies to maintain a list of the most shared COVID-19 material on social media, to fight misinformation.
