Australia to produce AstraZeneca jabs onshore

Australia's acting chief medical officer said Saturday he was confident the country would have "certainty of vaccine supply" due to its agreement with a company which will manufacture COVID-19 jabs domestically.

Professor Michael Kidd told reporters Australia was in "one of the strongest positions in the world" due to its onshore vaccine manufacturing agreement with the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL).

He added that subject to approval by the country's health regulatory agency, the AstraZeneca vaccine should begin its rollout to the Australian population in March.

Kidd also praised the country's 13-day stretch of no new COVID-19 cases.

Australia is aiming to complete inoculations by October. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths.