Scott Morrison expects COVID-19 vaccine will be ‘as mandatory as you can possibly make it’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested a coronavirus vaccine could be made mandatory when one is found.

Mr Morrison said while the federal government has not yet decided whether COVID-19 vaccination would be compulsory, he “would expect it to be as mandatory as you can possibly make it”.

“There are always exemptions … on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis,” he told Neil Mitchell.

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“We’re talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world.”

At least 90 per cent of the population would need to be immunised against coronavirus for a vaccine to be effective.

Mr Morrison says he expects there would be backlash if a vaccine were made compulsory, but he’s prepared for it.

“I was the minister that established ‘No jab, no play’, so my view on this is pretty clear,” he said.

The federal government has signed a deal to secure 25 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine out of Oxford University, if it proves successful in trials.

Mr Morrison says the vaccine, if proven effective will be available to Australians, for free, “hopefully from early next year.”

(Image: Sean Davey / Getty)