TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW ON TRIPLE M RIVERINA, 19 August 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Coronavirus vaccine;
LEIGH RYAN
Poppy and Leigh with you this morning and saying a very good morning to Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, who’s given us a call. Good morning Michael.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Good morning Poppy. Good morning Leigh.
POPPY PENNY
Good morning. Now there has been a little bit of news around, particularly this morning, around a vaccine. I guess, it’s good news when it comes to COVID-19, but what do we know?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, if there’s one thing that Australians really, really want at the moment, Poppy, it is hope and Australians are going to be the first in the world, potentially, to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, if it proves successful. I appreciate it’s a big if, but again, I say that word hope, through an agreement between the Government and the UK based drug company, AstraZeneca. Now, the Oxford University have been working hard as of course, have many universities including those in Australia to develop a vaccine. The Oxford one is in its stage three. It’s in one of the very late stages of development. We’ve invested $333 million in vaccines, therapeutics and COVID-19 medicines, including $256 million in vaccines and we’re close and I just wanted to assure those listeners that you’ve got and I know there are many of them, that just want that bit of hope, that if this vaccine proves successful, we’ll manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own scheme and make it free for 25 million Australians.
POPPY PENNY
How close is it? You say we’re close. You say they’re in stage three. Do we have a timeframe?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
They’re saying that it’s so close that it could well be developed by the end of the year, if not early next year, available to Australians, to of course, those countries which form an arrangement with them. I know we’ve been negotiating with them for some time now. There’s no guarantee that this or any other vaccine will be successful but that’s why we’re continuing our discussions with many parties around the world. I know there’s 160 trials going on around the world as we speak, but this one is very, very close and put it this way, the Government wouldn’t be going down this path and wouldn’t be making these announcements today, if it were not close.
LEIGH RYAN
How important is having something like this on the horizon from the economic point of view for Australia?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well you just see, Leigh, the difficulties that we’re encountering with just our border closures between Victoria, just not far away, 124-kilometres down the road in New South Wales and the impact that’s having on farmers, on industry, on just about everything. The trucks are getting through, yes, but every day there are tweaks to border arrangements which are proving very difficult for people’s livelihoods and it’s something that is costing the economy billions upon billions of dollars.
Now, we’ve put down $314 billion to help get people stay engaged with work, to help those who lose their jobs. It’s all about saving lives, protecting lives and livelihoods, but it’s had such an impact on the economy, as everybody well knows. I mean you only have to go down Wagga Wagga’s main street and you can see the effect that COVID-19 has had on business.
LEIGH RYAN
Yeah, very much so. Well Michael, thank you for your time this morning. Really appreciate you giving us a call and having a chat about this and hopefully, we can get that vaccine into the country and distributed sooner rather than later.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It’s a big hope, but it’s a lot of hope. Thank you so much.