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COVID-19: Britain and Australia vaccine developments

The timetable for delivery of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate has slipped and Britain will receive just 4 million doses of the shot this year, the head of Britain’s vaccine procurement programme said.

In May, Britain had agreed a deal for 100 million doses of the vaccine, with 30 million doses estimated for delivery by September.

Vaccine Taskforce Chair Kate Bingham said the scale-up in manufacturing usually took years but instead was moving at unprecedented speed, adding that the full 100 million doses would be delivered next year.

Separately, Australia has agreed to purchase another 50 million doses of two more COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as it aims to complete a mass inoculation programme within months.