COVID-19 vaccine mandate loophole of signing up for COVAX-19 trial closed

South Australian authorities will no longer allow those participating in a vaccine trial to be exempt from state government vaccine mandates.

The move comes as a fundraiser supporting Adelaide-based researcher Nikolai Petrovsky’s bid for his locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine, COVAX-19, to be approved for use in Australia has raised more than $750,000.

A number of prominent local social media platforms have been advocating for people to avoid having vaccines approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) by signing up to planned COVAX-19 clinical trials.

A direction issued on November 8 allowed people “currently taking part in a COVID-19 vaccine trial” where “the receipt of another available vaccine would impact the validity of the trial” to be exempt from the mandate, in place for workers in aged care, schools, childcare centres, disability services, health care and passenger transport.

But in a new direction issued today, SA Police said “taking part in a COVID-19 vaccination trial is no longer a valid reason to be exempt”.

TGA approval could be difficult

COVAX-19 was developed by Professor Petrovsky’s company Vaxine, which has laboratories at Flinders University.

It is based on a protein produced in insect cells.

Professor Petrovsky said after clinical phase 2 and phase 3 trials, it had been “approved for use in Iran and we’re now looking to see if we can get it approved in Australia”.

Numerous comments on the “Bring Covax-19 Vaccine back to Australia” GoFundMe page stated they had registered to participate in future Australian trials.

But, according to a blurb on the fundraising page, TGA approval could be a difficult hurdle to clear.

“If Australians are to have any chance to access our COVAX-19 vaccine then the government requires that we first must pay the TGA more than $300,000 just to assess our application, let alone the cost of all the work that is required to make a successful application,” it reads.

Professor Petrovsky has previously spoken out about facing the sack due to his refusal to get a TGA-approved jab, citing his own vaccination with COVAX-19 last year.

“Normally, you would have to do clinical trials to establish the safety of that approach,” he said.

SA Health already strict on waiting list loophole

SA Health has been contacted for comment.

Previously, it has said it would not “just recognise being on a waiting list for a proposed vaccine trial as a reason for exemption from a vaccination requirement”.

“The Chief Public Health Officer will not endorse any applications for medical exemptions from the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements… for this reason,” it said.

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