What is an adenovirus vaccine? The reason Australia isn’t asking for the Johnson & Johnson jab

Despite significant delays in the Government’s vaccination timetable, Australia has no plans to buy the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine that has helped the US fully vaccinate millions of people.

The vaccine rollout here was further slowed last week due to changed health advice surrounding the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under 50.

But despite those delays, the Government is pointing to a key similarity between the vaccines as a reason not to purchase Johnson & Johnson’s product — they’re both built with adenoviruses.

What is an adenovirus vaccine?

Adenovirus vaccines are a type of viral vector vaccine.

That means they use a modified and harmless virus — in this case an adenovirus — as a delivery system for…