Thread by @alexandraphelan

Vaccine news that may not be covered outside of Australia:

The University of Queensland/CSL #covid19 vaccine trial has reportedly been abandoned for really interesting reasons, with one less potential vaccine for global COVAX Facility pool.

Quick thread:
smh.com.au/politics/feder…

The UQ/CSL vaccine (V451) uses a molecular clamp vaccine platform with the COVID-19 spike protein: the clamp "locks" the spike protein to be more stable for purification & manufacture. It contains a small component derived from HIV that cannot infect people & poses no health risk

However, this component resulted in some participants (out of 200 volunteers inc. placebo & vaccine) in Phase 1 trial producing "a partial antibody response" which interfered with HIV screening tests (which detect HIV antibodies, not virus) resulting in false positive HIV tests.

This is a disappointing outcome as the article reports that data so far had apparently indicated a strong immune response for COVID19, however the risk that this could impact public's trust in all COVID19 vaccines or impact HIV screening may have been deemed too high (for now).

The Australian government has reportedly terminated their Advance Purchase Agreement for the vaccine, and has moved to secure additional supply of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine: it's unclear if all 51 million doses under the UQ/CSL APA are covered by this new deal.