December 11th – The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian reported on the 11th that the University of Queensland in Australia and CSL Pharmaceutical Company in Australia have stopped the development of a coronavirus vaccine because a volunteer tested falsely positive for HIV after vaccination.
It is reported that this vaccine is one of the largest number of orders in the Australian government’s vaccination program, reaching 51 million doses, and it is also one of the four candidate vaccines in Australia.
The Australian government had hoped that the vaccine would be put into use in mid-2021. Phase I clinical trials began in July, and Phase II and III clinical trials will begin in December. However, after a volunteer was vaccinated, the HIV test showed false positive.
Australian Prime Minister Morrison held an emergency press conference on the 11th, announcing that the coronavirus vaccine of the University of Queensland “will not be available” and that the Australian government has terminated the agreement with CSL.
At the same time, he pointed out that Australians do not have to worry that the cancellation of the University of Queensland vaccine will lead to a shortage of vaccines. The Australian government has signed enough vaccine agreements that even if one or two candidate vaccines prove unsuccessful, the supply will not be affected.
A spokesman for the health department also pledged that Australia will have enough vaccines for universal vaccination, and believes that the other three vaccine candidates will not have similar problems.
A CSL spokesman issued a statement saying that the vaccine has shown efficacy against COVID-19, but will not push the vaccine into phase II and phase III clinical trials. They also clarified that vaccination does not contract AIDS, but may appear “positive” when tested for HIV.
