It’s a sad day when a vaccine stumbles during trials, and backs away. But this is also confirmation the system works, and that’s important too. We can’t begin to imagine how Australian scientists at Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, and University of Queensland must be feeling. This after their Australian COVID vaccine proved unreliable in Stage II and Stage III trials.
How Did the Australian COVID Vaccine Prove Unreliable?
Commonwealth Serum Laboratories say their candidate vaccine (see report below) indicated some trial participants were HIV positive. They had warned them of this possibility, but had not expected the induced levels of false readings. We must emphasize at this point the participants were NOT HIV positive, and the trials did NOT cause HIV infections.
However, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and University of Queensland have withdrawn their vaccine out of an abundance of precaution. That’s because HIV testing procedures need ‘significant changes’ … to accommodate rollout of their vaccine. Therefore, it’s not that the Australian COVID vaccine proved unreliable. But that it conflicted with current HIV testing protocols.
Does This Spell the End of the Australia COVID Vaccine Project?
No, not at all. The Australia vaccine successfully produced COVID-19 antibodies. However, it also generated HIV antibodies in some recipients. These were genuine, although further testing proved the HIV infection was NOT there.
Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, and University of Queensland are still confident about their vaccine. But they need a year to fix the flaw, according to Brendan Murphy, secretary of Australia’s Department of Health speaking to BBC.
It’s a tough decision to make, however the reality is a huge majority of vaccines fail on the road through trials. We congratulate Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and University of Queensland for their integrity, and we look forward to their future success.
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