• COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Novavax says supply chain issues have delayed its plans to produce 150 million doses per month.
• The US-based firm now expects production to ramp up “by Q3”, a spokesperson said.
• Australia has signed a deal to receive 51 million Novavax doses, as the nation adapts to huge changes in its rollout strategy.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has sustained another blow, after manufacturer Novavax said its plans to produce 150 million doses a month were delayed until the second half of the year.

Reuters reports the US-based company has circled supply chain shortages for the hold-up, which have dashed its hopes of maximising output by May or June.

“We said during our earnings call that we expect all capacity being online by around mid-year,” said Novavax communications director Amy Speak.

“We’re continuing to refine that timing as we get closer, which now leads us to think we’re online/at full capacity by Q3.”

Australia has contracted the company to deliver 51 million doses of its protein vaccine through 2021, subject to its approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Those vaccine supplies were expected to supplement Australia’s vaccine rollout, which began with the Pfizer shot, followed by the AstraZeneca jab.

But focus on Australia’s alternative vaccine sources has intensified after the Federal Government’s Thursday announcement that the AstraZeneca vaccine — which was poised to form the backbone of the national vaccine rollout — is no longer recommended for those under 50 due to its potential link to rare blood clots.

The Federal Government has confirmed it has secured another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to partially fill the gap left by AstraZeneca, but those doses will also be delivered in the latter half of the year.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has not precluded ordering doses of the Moderna vaccine variant, but no plans have been announced.

A government spokesperson also ruled out the potential of Australia ordering doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — the use of which has now been suspended by US health officials, following separate reports of extremely rare blood clotting side effects.

The shake-up to Australia’s rollout plan led Prime Minister Scott Morrison to abandon earlier targets of immunising every eligible Australian by the end of the year.

The Federal Government has also accused the European Union of effectively blocking shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine, further slowing the nation’s immunisation program.

More than one million Australians have now been vaccinated, but the figure sits well short of the Federal Government’s earlier goal of immunising 4 million people by the end of March.

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