The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

[lovetravellingoz]

OK sure, if you are conceding that none of your posts were based on facts, that's fair enough. Let's leave it there.

I can retract that one comment that was just a side note and not a core part of my argument if you retract all of your speculations.

No, all is good

 

[burmans]

That seems contradictory to information from research overseas. And likely that booster doses will be a mix anyway.

I’ve always held the belief that it’s better to learn from others mistakes than your own. There is a wealth of information from other countries well ahead of ourself in the vaccination rollout but we seem extremely reluctant to use it. Recent decisions on AZ are a great example, there was plenty of overseas evidence to leverage but it appears we only accept ‘evidence’ if it happens in Australia.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Good rollout news for once!

You would think this latest news means we now need more Pfizer so the end if year target may well not be met, in my view it was always ambitious!

Well if the end of year target is for everyone to have had the option of having at least their first dose (and putting aside the issue of what vaccine the under16's will get for the moment and we add up all the various vaccines that should be available :

Pfizer: ​

3.4 + 1.7 + 2.8 + 32.5 = 40.4 million = 20.2 million people (minus any wastage, though equally maximisation could see more people vaccinated.).​

​

AZ:​

• Whatever has already been achieved, plus second doses to come.
• The over 60's that will still take it

Moderna​

• Starting to arrive in September, but with a large order arriving in Dec
• The agreement includes 10 million doses in 2021 and 15 million doses of Moderna’s updated variant booster vaccine in 2022.

we should in theory have more than enough doses to achieve that. as that will all total up to more than the total population of Australia.


The bigger problem may instead of being supply, be the two cohorts of:

• those that have no intention of getting vaccinated,
• those that will get vaccinated, but see no urgency to do so

 

[lovetravellingoz]

That seems contradictory to information from research overseas. And likely that booster doses will be a mix anyway.

Not to mention that the Federal Government has already ordered 15 million doses of Moderna’s updated variant booster vaccine in 2022., but only 10 million doses in 2021 (ie 5 million people) which suggests to me that the Moderna booster will be used to boost the first/ second doses of another vaccine or vaccines.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Good rollout news for once!

You would think this latest news means we now need more Pfizer so the end if year target may well not be met, in my view it was always ambitious!

Except we are supposed to be getting 2 million doses of Pfizer per week in Q4, so in theory it should really ramp up then. I think the next quarter is going to show whether there is the ability to actually meet the goal or not. They also need to show how they are going to get the final ones to show up. Getting to 50% actually seems easy not too sure about the next 20 to 30%.

 

[burmans]

Except we are supposed to be getting 2 million doses of Pfizer per week in Q4, so in theory it should really ramp up then. I think the next quarter is going to show whether there is the ability to actually meet the goal or not. They also need to show how they are going to get the final ones to show up. Getting to 50% actually seems easy not too sure about the next 20 to 30%.

Well I’ve said it before but will say it again, to meet the target we need a number of things to align
- supply
- getting the supply to the right places at the right time
- having the capacity to vaccinate enough people
- getting people to actually turn up

I tend to agree the last is likely to be the hardest. If you look at say the UK or the US stats the take up rates tapers pretty quickly past about 50% and they have a lot more motivation to get vaccinated than we do.

 

[mviy]

Doctors warn over 50s cancelling appointments despite experts saying second doses are safe

Health experts say getting a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, but doctors say patients are cancelling their appointments following changing health advice.

www.smh.com.au

This is going to slow down the rollout for a while.

 

[burmans]

Doctors warn over 50s cancelling appointments despite experts saying second doses are safe

Health experts say getting a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, but doctors say patients are cancelling their appointments following changing health advice.

www.smh.com.au

This is going to slow down the rollout for a while.

Coming from a program/project background I’m not overly sympathetic to the fact there are ‘issues’ with the rollout. Large programs like this always have many, many issues and planning should include contingency planning (I.e. don’t put all your eggs in a single basket). We do have the contingency planning now but somewhat too late, too much talking up how well we are doing and not enough on just good planning.

 

[Lynda2475]

Those are large regional centres.I note nothing for Broken Hill.Dubbo is one long drive away.Plus all the towns west of Dubbo.

Well I only listed the NSW run Pfizer hubs there are also the Commonwealth Pfizer hubs which include the following which are all taking online bookings for 1a, 1b and 40-59s:

• Bathurst Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
• Dubbo Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
• Orange Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
• Cowra Respiratory Clinic
• Armidale Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic where @astrosly should have been able to book if in an eligible category i.e. over 40.

Broken Hill does seem t be an issue because it only has the Indigenous - Broken Hill (Maari Ma Health Service) Respiratory Clinic, fine if you are aboriginal bad luck if your ancestry is something else.

I guess NSW is not doubling up by putting a state run mass vac Pfizer hub any where the commonwealth is already running a clinic.

The Vaccines Eligibility Checker shows both the state and commonwealth facilities for Pfizer. Works nationally.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Overall vaccinations number still high for yesterday.

Tomorrow we will find out if the recent news has resulted in a dip. Certainly the news in Vic from the State Hubs today that they had more cancellations (though that would not just be for a day) than bookings.

Vaccinations performed on Thursday 17th June:

 

[Pushka]

Overall vaccinations number still high for yesterday.

Tomorrow we will find out if the recent news has resulted in a dip. Certainly the news in Vic from the State Hubs today that they had more cancellations (though that would not just be for a day) than bookings.

Vaccinations performed on Thursday 17th June:

View attachment 250658View attachment 250659View attachment 250660View attachment 250661

They showed deserted vaccination places today unfortunately. Hopefully it's only the 50-59 year olds cancelling and not the now nervous 60-69 group.

 

[ethernet]

News hot off the press:

New Medicare bulk-billed item announced for over 50s to discuss vaccine with GP — as it happened

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says there will be a new Medicare item to allow people over 50 to visit a GP and discuss any COVID vaccine concerns, as the government seeks to quash vaccine hesitancy.

www.abc.net.au

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says there will be a new Medicare item to allow people over 50 to visit a GP and discuss any COVID vaccine concerns as the government seeks to quash vaccine hesitancy.

Social media has crucified and crystalized boomer feelings, that they are 2nd class citizens. I don't expect a turnaround if there is an October election. The solution is a reward incentive, be it a million dollars, or first off the rank OS travel freedoms.

This is a disaster at multiple levels. My GP would not be able to explain Canada's reasoning, let alone sell this over 'Your limited choices for your age group - Boomer' and the tardy adjustment when real Australian harm numbers went over what I would call as aged baseline numbers. I trust Canada, and this: German scientists say they can help improve Covid vaccines to prevent blood clots. Nor would they amplify other factors, like sex, age and blood-type and ethnicity.

A smart GP will want a quick outcome. Some will not be sold in 2 minutes. Say there will be heaps of unused/spurned AZ. Given that there is a quarantine leak every 11 days, that will increase when more overseas workers and students are snuck in, you should take it because you have no other option. If you live in a known or previous hotspot that had multiple lockdowns. But 100,000+ Victorians rushed for AZ, no GP needed, based on perceived locality risk.

No GP will say, Yeah, you are shouldering some unnecessary risk because of bad decisions, but you are also saving some lives. But has you live in this disaster Victorian LGA, you should take it right now, because if you get covid, you also can get the same brain clotting, only much more likely. (That message is being unadvertised, undersold).

Me: Took AZ a while ago, will do AZ Boost in August, although Canada thinks longer gaps more advantageous. What would sell me, is a sweetener - Like I am 1st to get an Mrna variant booster in October, and can make firm OS holiday bookings, and can home quarantine on my hobby farm. Many other countries are saying the fully vaccinated can fly, and not have to q'tine when returning, just a test.

 

[clifford]

What would sell me, is a sweetener - Like I am 1st to get an Mrna variant booster in October

That would be really good (and needed, probably), but I think it's in your dreams (well according to scomo at least).

I'll be looking to do some vaccine tourism in due course (maybe the USA or the NHS in the UK, as I'm also a citizen of the UK).

 

[justinbrett]

What would sell me, is a sweetener

I think 70% of the population would be sold with a "health sausage" (a close cousin of the democracy sausage).

 

[Flying mermaid]

Vaccination stakes update. In spite of a poor week due to the long weekend, Australia managed to hang onto 79th position - bypassing Russia and Bulgaria but being overtaken by smaller more nimble countries. I had hopes for next week, but with the current changes it’s looking a bit chaotic…..

 

[lovetravellingoz]

They showed deserted vaccination places today unfortunately. Hopefully it's only the 50-59 year olds cancelling and not the now nervous 60-69 group.

Though walk-ins already now ceased earlier in the week and so a big reason for the queuing also went this week with that and so those venues in the main looked quiet pre-news.

However one would expect a dip for a while even if it is people just wanting more time to digest things. Though unfortunately it will probably mean a number will change their mind and either wait, or who will join the cohort that will not vaccinate at all.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Vaccination stakes update. In spite of a poor week due to the long weekend, Australia managed to hang onto 79th position - bypassing Russia and Bulgaria but being overtaken by smaller more nimble countries. I had hopes for next week, but with the current changes it’s looking a bit chaotic…..

And we cannot really compare how we are going as we are one of the few countries that do not regularly publish the dose data as first and second dose achieved each day. Along with China, UAE, Saudi Arabia....

I mean

 

[Flying mermaid]

And we cannot really compare how we are going fully as we are one of the few countries that do not regularly publish the second dose data. Along with China, UAE, Saudi Arabia....

The Covid live charts I am using are just using total jabs and total population, so there are a lot of flaws with using it for comparisons. However it is interesting each week to see progress, even using that data. We have been moving between 81st and 78th for weeks. While we are making progress against big sluggish countries, it’s quite depressing to see a constant stream of small countries whizz past us. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

 

[Must...Fly!]

The Covid live charts I am using are just using total jabs and total population, so there are a lot of flaws with using it for comparisons. However it is interesting each week to see progress, even using that data. We have been moving between 81st and 78th for weeks. While we are making progress against big sluggish countries, it’s quite depressing to see a constant stream of small countries whizz past us. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

Which vaccines are these countries using?

Are they hysterically ceasing use of the AZ vaccine?

 

[Flying mermaid]

Which vaccines are these countries using?

Are they hysterically ceasing use of the AZ vaccine?

Good point. No it’s only Australia that seems to be a spoilt brat. The other countries use whatever they can get. AZ seems to feature prominently as well as Pfizer and one of the Chinese vaccines. Cuba is using a home grown vaccine which seems to be doing well and seems effective against the Brazilian variant as well.