Australia buys 1 million additional Pfizer vaccine doses from Poland
Mr Morrison said the doses were bought in a straightforward commercial transaction. Photo: AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government has secured a deal to purchase an additional one million doses of the Pfizer vaccine from Poland.
The doses are en route to Australia from Warsaw, with more than half already earmarked to be distributed directly to NSW.
Mr Morrison said the vaccines, which he described as “more than a million doses of hope’, would be rolled out from as early as next week.
“Earlier today, a plane left Dubai, having left Warsaw last night,” the Prime Minister told a media conference on Sunday.
“We have been in discussions with the Polish government now for several weeks, and we have secured over an additional one million doses of Pfizer, which will start landing in Australia from tonight.”
The new doses are in addition to the 40 million Pfizer doses that Australia has already contracted to be delivered.
Mr Morrison said the vaccines were purchased from Poland in a “straightforward transaction”.
Mr Morrison said the new Pfizer doses would be directed toward adults under 40.
“The one million doses, I have discussed this with the New South Wales Premier yesterday, will be targeted to Australians aged 20 to 39 years of age. Who were identified in the Doherty modelling as peak transmitters of COVID-19,” he said.
“Some of those doses will be prioritised for express delivery to the 12 [NSW] government areas where the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow.”
The Polish embassy in Canberra released a statement saying it was reselling its doses on a non-profit basis.
It said Poland recently offered to share vaccines, mainly with low and middle-income countries, including its Eastern neighbours and Balkan countries.
“The decision to also add Australia to the list was taken against the backdrop of the current outbreak of Delta variant in the country, following the talks between both countries’ officials, including the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers,” it said.