The news comes after Greg Hunt announced the government will not purchase the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine out of concern it carries similarly rare but severe blood clotting risks, with Guardian Australia noting that US health agencies have officially recommended states pause administration of the drug. Unfortunately the global production target for Australia’s third option, Novavax, has been pushed back until the third quarter of 2021 due to supply shortages. Although clinical trials for the drug are still underway, the ABC explains that Australia has an agreement for 51 million doses originally slated for “mid-2021, at which point executives had said full-scale vaccine production could be achieved”.