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HEALTH-VIRUS-AUTRALIA-VACCINE
Australian Covid vaccine dropped over false positive HIV result
SYDNEY, Dec 11, 2020 (AFP) – Development of a Covid-19 vaccine in Australia
was abandoned Friday after clinical trials produced a false positive HIV
result among subjects involved in early-stage testing.
The result prompted the government to axe plans to purchase millions of
doses of the candidate vaccine and instead increase orders of alternatives
from AstraZeneca and Novax, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
“The University of Queensland vaccine will not be able to proceed based on
the scientific advice, and that will no longer feature as part of Australia’s
vaccine plan,” Morrison said.
The candidate vaccine, which was still in phase one trials at the
University of Queensland, used a small amount of HIV protein as a “molecular
clamp” but triggered an antibody response that could interfere with HIV
screening, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
Although the vaccine had proved promising at suppressing Covid-19 and there
was no chance of HIV transmission, development was abandoned over fears it
could undermine public confidence in vaccinations, Department of Health
Secretary Brendan Murphy said.
“It probably would have worked very well as a vaccine, but we can’t have
any issues with confidence,” Murphy said.
Professor Paul Young from the University of Queensland insisted that the
HIV protein used in the vaccine was “completely harmless” and posed no health
risk to those who took part in trials.
The government said the announcement did not change the planned roll-out of
other vaccines to begin in March.
With Australia recording only a small number of infections daily, the
government said it could afford to take a relatively cautious approach to
vaccines in comparison to countries with large outbreaks.
Australia has recorded 28,000 cases of Covid-19 in a population of 25
million, with around 900 deaths.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0920 hrs