A fourth vaccine was granted provisional approval for use in Australia yesterday but it won’t be accessible to much of the public yet. 

The protein-based Novavax is an option thousands of Australians were waiting for, as it’s made in the same way many of the world’s vaccines have been for a long period.

This differs from the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which are considered a “new class” of technology.

“There were some people that had a view this was new and untried technology,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told Ray Hadley.

But the Novavax jab isn’t yet available to anyone who’s looking for a booster shot on top of two doses of another vaccine.

“That is exactly the discussion I’ve literally just had in the last 10 minutes with the global leadership,” Mr Hunt continued.

“They are preparing their booster application. They haven’t applied for that yet, they are going to be doing that soon.

“They’re looking to apply both for a first or a second booster if, for example, further down the track there were a fourth dose recommended for older people or immunocompromised.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview