Scott Morrison slams social media anti-vaxxers after coronavirus vaccine was sensationally scrapped - Daily Mail

Scott Morrison SLAMS social media anti-vaxxers after Australia's promising coronavirus vaccine was sensationally scrapped – saying it's 'pretty stupid' to get medical advice from Facebook or Twitter

• Scott Morrison urging people not to be 'medically informed' from social media
• Comes after trials for Australian-developed coronavirus vaccine were scrapped
• The PM said people should 'always consult their doctor for medical advice'
• The Australian government had secured a $1billion deal for 51 million doses

By Andrew Prentice and Kelsey Wilkie For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:24 GMT, 11 December 2020 | Updated: 01:40 GMT, 11 December 2020

Scott Morrison has slammed anti-vaxxers for seeking medical advice online, stating it is 'pretty stupid' to rely on updates from social media.

It comes as trials for an Australian-developed coronavirus vaccine were officially scrapped on Friday. 

The University of Queensland's proposed vaccine for Covid-19, which was highly anticipated, will not proceed to phase 3 clinical trials after it was found to be a risk of false-positive results for HIV. 

The vaccine was developed in partnership with pharmaceutical company CSL, with the government ordering 51 million doses.

Following Friday's development, the Prime Minister said Australians should always look to seek medical advice from qualified experts and never take updates on social media as gospel. 

Scott Morrison (pictured above) has slammed anti-vaxxers for seeking medical advice online, stating it is 'pretty stupid' to rely on updates from social media

Anti-vaxxers in Australia (pictured above) have been encouraged not to take medical updates on social media as read

'I don't suggest that people take their medical advice from Facebook or Twitter,' he said. 'I think that would be pretty stupid to do that, and I know Australians aren't stupid.  

'Always go to the official voice, always go to your doctor, always go to the medical advice, not to social media.' 

Leading Australian vaccine scientist Nikolai Petrovsky had warned the government about the risk of including HIV in a vaccine trial months before the $1billion deal was signed.

He said the problem with the use of HIV was clear in the 'hamster and mouse data' but his advice was ignored.   

Mr Petrovsky told The Australian the issues were with the level of antibodies they were generating against the clamp which were against HIV.

He said the early data suggested the vaccine itself was quite unstable.

'Overall it just didn't look like it was going to be a successful vaccine, that's why we were surprised when the government committed millions of dollars to it, it just seemed disproportionate.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed on Friday he urgently ordered more of two other vaccines currently in late-stage trials.

The government secured an extra 20 million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, taking the total to 53.8million, and an extra 11million doses of the Novavax vaccine.

Each vaccine requires two doses, meaning either of these jabs can vaccinate the whole population of 25million.

There is also a deal for 10million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which is already being rolled out in the United Kingdom under emergency approval.

University of Queensland vice chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry, said while Friday's outcome 'was disappointing', she was immensely proud of the UQ team who had shouldered a heavy burden of responsibility while the world watched on with interest.

'I also want to thank our many partners, our donors – including the Federal and Queensland Government – and of course the 216 Queenslanders who so willingly volunteered for the Phase 1 trials,' she said.

University of Queensland's proposed vaccine for Covid-19 will not proceed to phase 3 clinical trials after it was found to be a risk of false-positive results for HIV (stock image)

The Covid-19 pandemic saw a dramatic increase in the number of anti-vaxxers in Australia (stock image)

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the bombshell trial outcome is 'why we didn't put all our eggs in one basket'.

'This is why we made sure there were four contracts we signed to make sure that we got a vaccine and this is intrinsically very difficult science that UQ and around the world is trying to break,' he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt also revealed the vaccine roll-out could still be completed before the end of 2021 as currently predicted, despite Friday's setback.

'At the end of the day, 31 million new vaccines purchased for Australia, and the potential for a slightly earlier completion of the roll out with the commencement process still on track for March,' he said.

The jab will first be offered to health workers and the vulnerable, such as the elderly and Indigenous Australians. Children are not classed as vulnerable and will not be prioritised.

Why was the vaccine scrapped and what happens now?

What went wrong with the vaccine?

The trials were abandoned after some participants returned false positive results for another illness - HIV.

CSL said the false positives were caused by so-called 'molecular clamp' antibodies. There were no serious adverse events or safety concerns.

There is no possibility the vaccine gave people HIV but the trial was scrapped to keep public confidence in the other vaccines.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said the vaccine was likely to have worked but 'we didn't want to have any issues with confidence.'

What is a false positive?

A false positive is when someone tests positive for a disease they do not have.

Is the whole project over?

Yes. UQ vaccine co-lead, Professor Paul Young, said that although it was possible to re-engineer the vaccine, the team did not have the time needed.

'Doing so would set back development by another 12 or so months, and while this is a tough decision to take, the urgent need for a vaccine has to be everyone's priority,' he said.

Will we have enough vaccines?

Yes. The government has deals to buy three overseas vaccines which are all on the verge of approval.

The government has secured an extra 20million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, taking the total to 53.8million, and an extra 11million doses of the Novavax vaccine, taking the total doses of that jab to 51million.

Each vaccine requires two doses, meaning either of these jabs can vaccinate the whole population of 25million.

There is also a deal for 10million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which is already being rolled out in the UK under emergency approval.

Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed everyone in Australia could be vaccinated before the end of 2021.

'At the end of the day, 31 million new vaccines purchased for Australia, and the potential for a slightly earlier completion of the rollout with the commencement process still on track for March,' he said.

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