Australia expects COVID-19 vaccination is still a year away

Australia considers a rollout of a coronavirus vaccine no sooner than mid-2021 a best-case scenario in its pandemic planning that would save the economy tens of billions of dollars, the treasurer says.

The Treasury and Health Departments developed economic modeling based on an assumption that a vaccine would be widely available in Australia toward the end of next year, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.

“These are very uncertain times and as a government, we have taken every step possible to give Australia the best possible chance of getting a vaccine,” Frydenberg tells the National Press Club.

Treasury modeling doesn’t contemplate a vaccine becoming available in Australia early next year. An early vaccine is regarded as one that is rolled out from July 1, providing certainty to households and businesses while promoting consumption and investment.

This so-called upside scenario also assumes that international students would return to Australian universities late next year due to the vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of students from overseas have made the Australian universities sector one of the nation’s biggest earners of foreign currency.

— AP