Moderna’s mRNA vaccines to be exempt from Australian safety advisory committee scrutiny under $2bn secret deal — Critics say exemption ‘deeply concerning’ and risks creating separate assessment systems | 9 Dec 2024 | Australians will be offered [deadly] respiratory “vaccines” from next year without the usual assessment that ensures they are the most effective available at the best possible price, under the confidential $2bn onshore manufacturing deal the Morrison government struck with Moderna. The agreement exempts Moderna’s mRNA vaccines from assessment by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, a government memorandum has revealed. The contract signed with the American pharmaceutical company in 2021 commits successive Australian governments to buying locally produced Moderna vaccines for at least a decade. The accompanying explanatory memorandum sheds new light on the secretive contract, including its exemption from assessment by the PBAC. The memorandum says the Moderna vaccines “will not go through the…PBAC process and therefore will not be listed as designated vaccines on the National Immunisation Program.”