Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly have written to everyone aged over 70, urging anyone who has not been vaccinated or not had their second dose to do so as soon as possible.
Mr Morrison said to date 26.7% of the Australian adult population has now had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 65.2% of over 70-year-olds. There have been 2,566 visits to residential aged care facilities to administer a first jab, with 2,510 visits for a second dose.
The Australian Government wants as many older Australians to get fully vaccinated as possible.
The vaccination rollout in Australia is in for a shake-up.
Vaccination taskforce head Lieutenant General John Frewen is “completely reviewing the rollout strategy and the timeframes” in a “complete refresh” of the plans. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is now recommended for people aged 50 to 59.
By the end of July, all 136 Commonwealth Vaccination Clinics, 40 ACCHS and 1,300 GPs are expected to be administering Pfizer.
Many more primary care providers, including community pharmacies, will also be offered the chance to administer mRNA vaccines as the supply of Pfizer significantly increases and the first supplies of Moderna arrive in September/October.
Lieutenant Frewen said Australia had 2.3 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine “on hand” and was expecting a further 3.4 million through June and July.
Dr Christopher Blyth from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation said there had been 60 cases of blood clots, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopeInia syndrome (TTS), from four million AstraZeneca jabs administered, including two deaths.
It sounds like a lot of cases.
But it only equates to a one-in-two-million chance of death linked to the AstraZeneca jab in Australia.
The advice is to consult your GP if you have any concerns or questions about taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This latest community outbreak of COVID-19 in Sydney is a reminder that we are all still at risk from this virus – and being vaccinated is our best protection.
