Covid abnormal: why is Australia so far behind on making its own mRNA vaccines?

Annual coronavirus vaccines could be a reality - but Australia is at least 18 months away from manufacturing its own

From September - more than nine months after it was approved for emergency use in the United States - the first doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine will arrive on Australian shores. The second mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine against the coronavirus is a welcome boon amid a period of rolling lockdowns and record case numbers.

But Australia's notoriously sluggish vaccine rollout has been marred by the failure of a locally developed vaccine candidate, as well as changes to age-group recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine as a result of its link to rare but blood clots.