Page 11 - Retail Pharmacy Magazine October 2020

OTHE RACE TO FIND A COVID-19 VACCINE ne of the most important challenges of our lifetime, the race to find a Covid-19 vaccine, is progressing, albeit with a pause to trials of a main candidate, as the world continues to grapple with the highly infectious and deadly virus. Extra research funds for Aussie vaccine trio Recognising that the rapid development of a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine is critical and an urgent priority, the Morrison government will invest almost $6 million in additional funding from the Medical Research Future Fund’s ‘Coronavirus research response’ to support the research and development of three Australian Covid-19 vaccines. Reportedly, under the competitive, peer-reviewed ‘Covid-19 vaccine candidate research grant opportunity’, funding will be allocated for the further development of the three vaccines. The University of Melbourne will receive almost $3 million to develop two vaccine candidates, while the University of Sydney will also receive almost $3 million for a phase 1/1b clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of a novel DNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. Subject to further work, the resulting vaccines could eventually be deployed in Australia and around the world. PSA: Clear the way now for pharmacist vaccine role In response to the announcement by the federal government that a free Covid-19 vaccine will be available progressively throughout 2021 in Australia, if trials prove successful and the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, meeting all necessary regulatory requirements, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is calling on all state and territory governments to ensure that legislative amendments are made now, so that approved Covid-19 vaccines can be administered by pharmacists. PSA National President Associate Professor Chris Freeman says administering a Covid-19 vaccine will be the primary way out of this pandemic and all hands on deck are needed to ensure wide and comprehensive uptake of the vaccine. “A proactive approach to legislative amendments now means that when company is “committed to the safety of our participants and the highest standards of conduct in our trials”. “At AstraZeneca we put science, safety and the interests of society at the heart of our work,” CEO Pascal Soriot said. Following confirmation by the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority that it was safe to do so, AstraZeneca released another statement on September 12, saying the clinical trials for the AstraZeneca Oxford Covid-19 vaccine had resumed. ‘We need a national Covid-19 vaccine distribution plan’ The Australian Medical Association is calling on the government to ensure there is a “national Covid-19 vaccine distribution plan”. According to AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid, such a plan needs to be developed to ensure a TGA-endorsed vaccine is initially “distributed to at-risk groups, particularly the aged and those with other health conditions”. “After vulnerable groups have been provided with the vaccine, it should then be rolled out to other groups,” he said. “All frontline healthcare workers should be allowed early access to an approved vaccine. “The AMA is willing to work with governments to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[develop\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] a vaccine distribution plan so that all Australians will be able to have fair access to a vaccination when approved by authorities.” the vaccine is available, all jurisdictions around Australia will be ready to go, with the entire available healthcare workforce, including pharmacists, able to undertake a large-scale vaccination program,” he said. “PSA has written to state and territory governments asking that any required legislative amendments are made now in preparation for when the vaccine becomes available.” NEWS IN FOCUS 9 “Administering a Covid-19 vaccine will be the primary way out of this pandemic and all hands on deck are needed to ensure wide and comprehensive uptake of the vaccine.” AstraZeneca Oxford clinical trials resume Following a single event of unexplained illness that occurred in the UK phase three trial of the AstraZeneca Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, a voluntary pause was placed on vaccination across all trials to allow an independent committee to review the safety data of the event and to ensure integrity of the trials is maintained. According to a statement released by AstraZeneca on September 9, “in large clinical trials, illnesses will happen by chance and must be independently reviewed”. However, despite this, the RETAIL PHARMACY • OCT 2020