General COVID-19 Vaccine Discussion

[Hillbilly64]

And right on cue.............

Brisbane hospital locked down after doctor tests positive for COVID-19 - ABC News

amp.abc.net.au

Well done QLD Health. How has a frontline doctor dealing with Covid19 patients not been vaccinated yet. Surely they would be first in the queue.

 

[RooFlyer]

Well done QLD Health. How has a frontline doctor dealing with Covid19 patients not been vaccinated yet. Surely they would be first in the queue.

There probably were. Just that the QLD queue hasn't moved much ...

 

[Pushka]

Well done QLD Health. How has a frontline doctor dealing with Covid19 patients not been vaccinated yet. Surely they would be first in the queue.

That was going to be my question. Surely someone who has had actual contact with positive Covid patients would have been vaccinated as an absolute priority? On the other hand, too soon to have any effect. Guess they won't need it now (yes, I know they will, just calling the irony of it all).

 

[drron]

I reported here a few days ago about a QLD anaethetist who was required to intubate Covid patients when required who was not considered a front line health worker.I will be interested to see whether this fellow had been vaccinated or not.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I reported here a few days ago about a QLD anaethetist who was required to intubate Covid patients when required who was not considered a front line health worker.I will be interested to see whether this fellow had been vaccinated or not.

Its all quite arbitrary. Dr FM told me today that a cardiologist she works with, who is not considered frontline, was vaccinated on the Gold Coast, as they decided it was silly to differentiate and vaccinated all their doctors....

 

[Lynda2475]

Any medical staff working directly in HQ or with positive patients in hospital should have had their first vaccination by now, if this Doctor hadnt had their first jab Qld CHO will have some explaining to do. Especially as to why any politician got a jab before any covid physician. From tomorrow those who got round one of pfizer in week one should be returning for their second shot.

Hopefully they are also looking into what PPE breach exposed the Doctor.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Its all quite arbitrary. Dr FM told me today that a cardiologist she works with, who is not considered frontline, was vaccinated on the Gold Coast, as they decided it was silly to differentiate and vaccinated all their doctors....

Not surprising. I’m guessing it’s quite arbitrary around the country.

Quite possibly there will be those ‘forgotten’. Then a claim that they were offered a vaccine but ‘refused’ or more accurately didn’t make an appointment.

 

[Pushka]

Any medical staff working directly in HQ or with positive patients in hospital should have had their first vaccination by now, if this Doctor hadnt had their first jab Qld CHO will have some explaining to do. Especially as to why any politician got a jab before any covid physician. From tomorrow those who got round one of pfizer in week one should be returning for their second shot.

Hopefully they are also looking into what PPE breach exposed the Doctor.

But likely too soon to have any effect. If there is anything to gain from this, the other states will ensure they have ramped up vaccinating those people most at risk.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Yes if I heard correctly the only thing that I would do differently is that I would have all people at the exposure sites isolate immediately and get tested. Whereas I think they said that they were just asked to watch for symptoms.

I may have misheard though.

They broke up into high risk and low risk. E.g. if you were at the gym at the same time you had to isolate. If you were at the gym afterwards you had to monitor for symptoms.

 

[drron]

So the doctor had not had her first shot of the vaccine although 1615 staff at the PA hospital have already had their first shot.
Some serious questions for QLD Health.

And young Mark must be seriously distracted by his election today.Can't find a record of any words from him.

We are primed to go to NSW a week early in an effort to still have our WA trip.

 

[OZDUCK]

So the doctor had not had her first shot of the vaccine although 1615 staff at the PA hospital have already had their first shot.
Some serious questions for QLD Health.

And young Mark must be seriously distracted by his election today.Can't find a record of any words from him.

We are primed to go to NSW a week early in an effort to still have our WA trip.

It has already been advised that any action will be considered once the State CMO has discussed the matter with his Qsld colleague and given his advice to the government.

But on the matter of vaccination, even if the doctor had been vaccinated my understanding is that it would have not have had sufficient time to have any effect as it requires at least 2 weeks before it produces sufficient antibodies?

 

[Pushka]

But on the matter of vaccination, even if the doctor had been vaccinated my understanding is that it would have not have had sufficient time to have any effect as it requires at least 2 weeks before it produces sufficient antibodies

That is true however - if they haven't vaccinated someone who has direct contact with positive patients, then that's not a good indication of a successful roll out.

 

[Flying mermaid]

That is true however - if they haven't vaccinated someone who has direct contact with positive patients, then that's not a good indication of a successful roll out.

That’s true - however it also sounded like they have moved Torres Strait Islanders from 1b to 1a and have been vaccinating them, as they are concerned about spread from Papua New Guinea. I guess at the moment they have to prioritise where they see the biggest risk.

 

[Lynda2475]

But on the matter of vaccination, even if the doctor had been vaccinated my understanding is that it would have not have had sufficient time to have any effect as it requires at least 2 weeks before it produces sufficient antibodies?

Well the program started 3 weeks ago, so if Qld started with the people directly exposed to Covid cases, the Doctor would have got their Pfizer shot in week 1 and whilst they may not have developed optimal antibodies yet they would have had some protection.

Despite having double the population of WA, Qld have only only given out 700 more vaccinations than WA. Their roll-out therefore seems super slow. Whilst the need to bring forward TI residents is understood, still seems odd that those working diretly with Covid cases havent been prioritised.

 

[andye]

Not good but plenty of potential explanations
E.g
I have frequent contact with potential covid patients though less so now with the quicker turnaround of testing (but am still very regularly in the hotzone where others awaiting tests could be). I was only vaccinated yesterday as I had leave when my appointment would have been scheduled.
Many hospitals have locum juniors on the covid wards and they may not have been scheduled.
Delirious, demented (or just frightened) patients are not very good at infection control procedures. In the first wave, I saw several examples of people wandering out of their side room, mask round neck shouting for help.
The reality of PPE is that people are not wearing full Hazmat suits and it's quite possible to be exposed when in close contact even if you are being assiduous. I would be disappointed if I had caught Covid from a patient and the response was vilification.

That's not to say it shouldn't be investgated-its just that not every breach needs a personal (or political) villain

 

[Flying mermaid]

Not good but plenty of potential explanations
E.g
I have frequent contact with potential covid patients though less so now with the quicker turnaround of testing (but am still very regularly in the hotzone where others awaiting tests could be). I was only vaccinated yesterday as I had leave when my appointment would have been scheduled.
Many hospitals have locum juniors on the covid wards and they may not have been scheduled.
Delirious, demented (or just frightened) patients are not very good at infection control procedures. In the first wave, I saw several examples of people wandering out of their side room, mask round neck shouting for help.
The reality of PPE is that people are not wearing full Hazmat suits and it's quite possible to be exposed when in close contact even if you are being assiduous. I would be disappointed if I had caught Covid from a patient and the response was vilification.

That's not to say it shouldn't be investgated-its just that not every breach needs a personal (or political) villain

I don’t think anyone is vilifying the doctor - it’s easy enough to happen..

perhaps you could give us some understanding as to why the rollout is so slow? From a lay person’s point of view it’s just a jab in an arm. Is it a lack of vaccine, the difficulty in handling the Pfizer, the fact that people have to be monitored in a socially distanced way for 15 to 30 minutes afterwards, or other factors? Will it speed up significantly once the AZ is available and it can be administered, by more people (I,e. GPs, pharmacies, etc).

 

[andye]

I didn't take it that people were directly vilifying the doctor though there has been an element of that in social media commentary on other workers such as cleaners and security
As to the speed of roll-out my guess is stock and supply chain logistics. Things certainly seemed very efficient at Westmead last week. It's fortunate that our new emergency department was opened three weeks ago so they can use the old premises with ample space.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The below would add up to a lot of people...

Quarantine and border workers, including: staff at entry points to the country (such as sea ports and land borders) staff working in quarantine facilities, including those employed under Commonwealth, state or private agreements, and Commonwealth employees (including Defence personnel) who are identified as having the potential to encounter returning travellers as part of their work.
Frontline health care worker sub-groups for prioritisation frontline staff in facilities or services such as hospital emergency departments,COVID-19 and respiratory wards, Intensive Care Units and High-dependency Units laboratory staff handling potentially infectious material ambulance and paramedics service

 

[ethernet]

Can somebody explain why CSL is behind the eight ball, potentially / under-delivering ? Did they destroy production vats that were going to be used for the cancelled UQLD vaccine? Or are their filters getting blocked? Or did they fail to achieve temperature control? It is annoying to hear Thailand is sticking to its guns, and will develop capability going forward, including mRNA, yet Australia - sound of crickets. It only makes sense is QA failed batches, in which case the 'whys' come into place. I am no authority in pressure chromatography.

 

[drron]

If we think Australia is slow with vaccine rollout then what about some of the EU contries.Italy in particular.
.

Two-Thirds of Italians Set For Lockdown as Pandemic Worsens