Australia’s only Q fever vaccine runs out this week, a year after cases hit a record high

Australia’s supply of Q fever vaccine is expected to run dry this week, leaving the people most exposed to the disease, from dairy farmers to shearers and abattoir staff, with nowhere to get protected until at least late December.

CSL Seqirus, which makes Q-VAX in Melbourne under contract to the federal government, says it expects “a short temporary stock out” from now until the end of the year. Chris Larkins, the company’s senior vice-president of operations, said its next two batches had been expedited and should be ready around late December. He apologised and said stabilising supply was the company’s top priority.

Why can’t they just make more?

Because the vaccine takes most of a year to make. Mr Larkins said each batch takes about nine months, and is made with an inactivated form of the bacterium that causes the disease.

Over the past 12 months, he said, problems with the supply of raw materials and unexpected failures in the equipment on its filling line meant three or four batches could not be released. He said he expects supply to stay tight until late this year or early next, and to improve once production moves to two new sites in Melbourne.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s medicine-shortage register has listed Q-VAX as in limited availability since 12 January this year, citing manufacturing, with the shortage expected to last until 31 January 2027. It says the sponsor is closely controlling supply.

Who is left exposed?

Q fever is caught from animals, mostly cattle, sheep and goats, often by breathing in dust contaminated by birth fluids, urine or dung. It can cause a severe flu-like illness, and some people are left with long-term fatigue or heart problems. Vaccination is routinely required for many meat processing workers, and is strongly recommended for farmers, shearers, vets and others who work with livestock.

Those are the people now waiting. A dairy farmer at Rawsonville, in central-west NSW, said she had not been able to vaccinate her staff since March. A nurse who also works as a shearer said she waited about five years for a vaccine after starting shearing in 2020. “People want it and need it and it will save lives,” she said.

How bad is Q fever right now?

Australia recorded 991 Q fever cases last year, the highest number since national monitoring began in 1991. A stock-out during the busiest disease year in a generation means workers who have not yet been vaccinated will go through spring and early summer without protection.

Hasn’t this happened before?

Yes. Q-VAX was in short supply from May 2024 into early 2025, when doses were rationed to the highest-risk workers before CSL Seqirus said supply had returned to normal in February 2025. This time there will be no doses at all for several weeks.

Who is responsible for supply?

A Department of Health spokesperson said CSL Seqirus manages the manufacture and commercial supply of Q-VAX, including distribution and how available stock is allocated. The spokesperson said the department’s arrangement with the company runs over 10 years and is worth $1 billion, and that it supports keeping the ability to make vaccines in Australia.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.