A new poll has revealed the number of people who will be willing to get the coronavirus vaccine when it arrives in Australia.
We've been told it could be several months or even in the tail end of 2021 until we could be vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic. But, if it's successful, it would be the key to helping life return to normal.
However, there are loads of people across Australia who won't be getting the vaccine regardless of whether it's effective at preventing them from getting coronavirus.
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Research by the Australian National University found 10 percent of respondents 'definitely won't' or 'probably won't' get the jab. If you extrapolate that out into Australia's 25 million population, that's around 2.5 million people.
At least 58 per cent of people said they would definitely get it, while a quarter of those surveyed said they 'they would probably, but not definitely' accept the vaccine.
The Australian Government has secured a deal that could see a free Covid-19 vaccine rolled out to some Australians by January or February next year.
A deal has been signed which gives Australians priority access to the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the University of Queensland/CSL vaccine, which will be manufactured in Melbourne.
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"By securing the production and supply agreements, Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a safe and effective vaccine, should it pass late-stage testing," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
While they are not ready to be rolled out yet, and there are no guarantees that they will be, the Oxford vaccine is seen globally as looking particularly promising.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently the most progressed candidate in the world, with late-stage phase three trials in Britain, Brazil, the United States and South Africa generating strong immune responses in humans with no significant concerns.
If the trials are successful, Mr Morrison says Australia will have early access to 3.8 million doses in January and February 2021 for vulnerable people and frontline health workers.
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The Australian government will spend more than $1.7 billion to secure 84.8 million doses. The agreements are for 33.8 million does of the Oxford vaccine and 51 million doses of the University of Queensland vaccine, which has been developed with $5 million of Federal Government support.
It's thought that both of the vaccines are likely to require two doses for each person - an initial dose and then a booster.
Featured Image Credit: PA