Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation
ATAGI’s role is to advise the Minister for Health on the medical administration of vaccines available in Australia.
Batch assessment
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) ensures there is an independent quality assessment of every batch of vaccine supplied in Australia.
Boost (Booster injection)
An additional dose of a vaccine that re-stimulates the immune after the effects of an earlier dose wear off. It is not yet clear whether booster shots of a COVID-19 vaccine will be necessary.
Cell culture
A laboratory technique that can be used to make some vaccines, where cells can be grown in a nutrient-rich liquid to either I) make virus to be inactivated for inactivated vaccines, ii) make antigen for protein subunit vaccines or iii) make viral vectors.
Clinical Trial
A research study in which one or more human subjects are progressively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo/sham or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioural outcomes.
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
One of the international organisations that established the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility.
The facility enables participating governments, including lower income countries, to access safe and effective vaccines for 20 per cent of their population.Cold chain
The system of transporting and storing vaccines within the safe temperature range. This is normally between +2°C to +8°C.
Combination vaccine
A product containing components that can be divided equally into independently available routine vaccines.
Conjugate vaccine
A vaccine made by chemically linking a protein molecule with a tiny sugar compound. The sugar compound comes from the cell coating of the bacteria. This improves the person’s immune response to the vaccine. Example: Meningococcal vaccine
Contraindication
A condition in a person wanting to be vaccinated that increases the risk for a serious adverse reaction.