The UK’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is an “extraordinary” feat for modern science, a Queensland virologist says.

It will be rolled out from next week.

Professor of Virology at the University of Queensland and co-lead on the Vaccine Project Paul Young said the timeline was incredible.

“It really is extraordinary,” he said.

“When you think about the fact that the sequence of this virus was only made public on 11 January, 11 months from that sequence information of an unknown virus to approval of a vaccine, in that sort of space in time, is really quite incredible.”

In Australia, he said advancing a vaccine was a matter for government.

“It is possible the [Therapeutic Goods Administration] may advance the vaccine ahead of the intended rollout next year, but it really does depend on how the TGA goes in reviewing the data.”

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