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The Federal government is “still hopeful” all Australians will be vaccinated by Christmas despite setbacks caused by the decision to only vaccinate those over 50 with the AstraZeneca jab according to Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday the AstraZeneca vaccine would no longer be recommended for Australians under the age of 50 due to concerns over a rare blooding clotting side effect.

Mr Clennell said, “the real fear is similar stories could emerge about other vaccines in coming months which will discourage Australians from being vaccinated”.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is currently under investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which is looking at four blood clot cases involving the medication in the United States.

Mr Clennell said the Morrison government is currently hoping the Novavax vaccine will have regulatory approval by September so it can be given in conjunction with Pfizer to Australians under 50.

At present Australia has secured 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine which are unlikely to face export bans because they are coming from the United Kingdom and not from the European Union.