The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

More than 200K QLDers are on a wait-list for a Pfizer vaccine the Courier Mail is reporting on tomorrow's Front Page.
Two of these in our household. Registered "interest" (which is all we can do now via Qld Health web site) when the recommendation changed for 50-59yo cohort. Still waiting for the email from Qld Health advising when it will be available to us and instructions for making a booking.

Perhaps we might end up with Moderna given the likely timeframe to bubble to the top of the waiting list for making a booking.
 
… This could point to a difficult situation where children need to be vaccinated to get enough immunity in the community to return to a pre-pandemic way of life but we want to wait and see longer term effects before taking the risk of vaccinating them.
Anyway, if the adults are prioritised, and every adult who wants to be vaccinated receives the two doses, then the kids may have to wait until 2022.
 
Anyway, if the adults are prioritised, and every adult who wants to be vaccinated receives the two doses, then the kids may have to wait until 2022.
Yes, I think that's a given. If we wait for kids to be vaccinated before easing restrictions the rollout will be going well into 2022 giving people their first two doses, let alone doing boosters (if required).
 
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Dr Chant is usually well spoken. I personally found her bringing up vaccines for children to be ill-advised. There is clearly enough skepticism in the community for vaccinating adults who can make their own decisions, let alone minors. Trials are underway in other parts of the world. I see no reason why we should be speculating, or giving media any cause to speculate, rollout to further cohorts than what is already in the plan. It will sort itself out as trials continue.

I think recent events are understandably getting on top of her and NSW Health… contact tracing is now days behind some chains of transmission unfortunately. It’s a big ask.

They haven’t really done this before so I don’t really blame her for not being across the latest developments and trials of vaccines overseas!
 
More than 200K QLDers are on a wait-list for a Pfizer vaccine the Courier Mail is reporting on tomorrow's Front Page.
200k sounds a lot and it was when only 300k arriving per week, not really a lot when 1k arrives a week.
 
Looking for 80% vaccination rate. More snap lockdowns on the horizon

More snap lockdowns on the horizon​

By Melissa Cunningham

July 20, 2021 — 8.59am

For the next four months Australians should expect to endure more snap lockdowns with experts predicting further outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
Scientists warn suppressing Delta, which is thought to be twice as infectious as the Wuhan strain circulating last year in Victoria, is a near-impossible feat in a vastly unvaccinated population.

They argue each new Delta outbreak must be crushed back down to zero cases with “accelerated” public health measures, including snap lockdowns.

Victoria’s stay-at-home orders were extended on Monday after 16 infections were detected. NSW is enduring a prolonged lockdown and other states have restrictions in place as the nation struggles to contain a spread of fast-moving Delta.


University of Melbourne researcher Jason Thompson, who provided epidemic modelling to the Victorian government during last year’s second wave of COVID-19, said the extremely contagious Delta variant was a new era of the pandemic.
“With Delta, you either have no case or you have lots of cases, there isn’t much room in between,” he said. “To keep those cases to very low numbers you have to implement lockdowns even faster than before.”
Dr Thompson suspects lockdowns may be called upon more quickly and frequently to contain the virus in the coming until millions more can be vaccinated.
Rather than prolonged lockdowns drawn out over months, fast, snap lockdowns, lasting roughly a week, could be enough to curtail outbreaks if they are enforced early.

“For example, you might have five seven-day lockdowns versus one six-month lockdown,” he said.
“This is where we are at unfortunately in Australia until we build immunity through vaccination”
Dr Thompson said while the same public health principles work to contain Delta, all measures must be “accelerated” as the variant had shown it could transmit even with the most fleeting of interactions and had the capacity to outrun contact tracers.
“It is like running a video at three times the normal speed than what it used to be,” Dr Thomspson said.
Melbourne University clinical epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter said further lockdowns were inevitable until vaccine rates surged to 80 percent or the country fixed its “leaky quarantine system.”

“Every potential vulnerability we have in the system, Delta is just more able to take advantage of that,” Professor Baxter said.

“We are going to have to continue to address the threat and lockdowns have to be part of that.”
Professor Baxter said if a new variant took hold globally, Australia would be in a far worse situation than the UK, which controversially moved to lift its remaining coronavirus restrictions on Monday, amid warnings from infectious diseases experts it may become a breeding ground for dynamics of different variants.
“We barely have anyone vaccinated,” she said. “We don’t have any natural immunity from COVID having been in our community before and now we’re dealing with the most transmissible, possibly most virulent COVID variant ever.”


Even the way we exit lockdowns has changed with Delta.
“If it is still smouldering and you release restrictions it will quickly ignite again,” Dr Thompson said. “You have to know exactly where all your cases are before you ease restrictions.”
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely, who has led scientific modelling that predicted what might happen in Australia under hundreds of varying scenarios, estimates the chance of going into lockdown in Victoria each time new infections of Delta arise is roughly the same now as it was this time last year.
This is in spite of significant improvements to contact tracing and widespread mask-wearing in Victoria.


Despite being in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic for more than 18 months, Professor Blakely said even he had been surprised that fleeting transmission at an AFL match at the MCG had spawned more cases.

“People are getting infected with Delta, then becoming infectious and infecting others with fleeting or minor contact, incredibly quickly,” he said.
The epidemiologist predicts the probability of going into lockdown will diminish as vaccination coverage goes up at the end of October and “the chance of going into lockdown after that goes down and down.”
But Computational epidemiologist Mikhail Prokopenko from the University of Sydney’s Centre for Complex Systems, warned repeated, short lockdowns were not viable long-term and Australia must aim to eliminate Delta.

“I really have my doubts [about repeated snap lockdowns] because it is so disruptive to society,” Professor Prokopenko said.
“It would be far better to try and eliminate, not just to single digits, but to zero cases like we did last year.”
He said once the variant was eliminated, uninterrupted weeks or months of economic and social activity could be used to vaccinate as many people as possible before the next outbreak.
Professor Prokopenko recently undertook complex scientific modelling that showed under the current settings Sydney could be in COVID-19 lockdown for months and that even a small drop in compliance could extend it significantly.
He suspects it may take several more weeks in hard lockdown, but NSW will eventually be able to squash its cases back to single digits.

“The numbers are growing, but they’re not growing at a very rapid exponential rate,” he said.

However, experts warn if a new variant of coronavirus leaked into Australia “all bets were off.”
In February, Dr Thompson thought Australia was finished with lockdowns, but a vaccination program beset with delays, had left the country in a dangerous position.
“Even being two months behind in a vaccination rollout during a global pandemic is an eternity,” he said. “It’s not just Delta that we should be worried about, but whatever variant comes after it.”
 
These "experts" need to be muted and not given air time by the media. If they are so expert then they should be giving advice direct to government and that discussion kept within those channels. They are doing almost as much damage to people's mental health and business/personal confidence than lockdowns are.
 
Just under 60% (59.94%) of those aged 50+ have received their first dose (once figures for today 20 July are released tomorrow that should tick over 60%). For five year age groups 35-39 and up, the second dose percentages are at least 10% despite most people under 40 only being eligible for AZ.
 
You really are spouting rubbish now. ;)

There's no way they would ever call an inquiry. They would however make an announcement that they are planning to assess the need to call an inquiry. 🤣
Mea culpa!

Forgot those steps, newbie error :eek:
 
Under 40's waiting outside of Jeff's Shed (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) Vaccination Hub early this evening just in case there were any Pfizer doses that had to be used by closing tonight.

They were advised that there would only be most likely only 5 or 6 doses available tonight if they were lucky.
The boss was told (late evening last night) at St George Hospital (Sydney) they just leave them in the fridge for tomorrow!!

So her driver missed out on earlier dose (waiting under Group 1B for late next week).

Saw this mentioned for Victorian hubs:

Health workers say vials are not made up until appointees turn up, meaning doses are not thrown out, but there is capacity to boost vaccine rates by filling no-show gaps.

Wastage rates are extremely low in state-run centres, and is about 0.8 per cent on average for AstraZeneca and Pfizer, but no-show rates are high across the board.

Sounds similar to what St George is doing.
 
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Just under 60% (59.94%) of those aged 50+ have received their first dose (once figures for today 20 July are released tomorrow that should tick over 60%). For five year age groups 35-39 and up, the second dose percentages are at least 10% despite most people under 40 only being eligible for AZ.

Thankfully lots of people ignoring a certain retiring QLD CHO then ;)
 
Thankfully lots of people ignoring a certain retiring QLD CHO then ;)
Well probably the bulk of the under 40s with second doses at the moment would be health workers etc. who may well have had Pfizer or people in some places e.g. WA (those who booked in a brief window), regional SA that have been able to get Pfizer already.
 
The Pfizer trials are already done in the 12-15 yr age group. It’s approved for use in this age in several countries including the USA, Canada, UK and now in NZ.
Fully expected that the TGA here will follow suit.
Bring it on I think.

Moderna is also currently conducting trials of a low-dose vaccine for under 12 year olds, and possibly for use to as young as 6 months.


I believe that Pfizer also intend to do the same.
 
Just under 60% (59.94%) of those aged 50+ have received their first dose (once figures for today 20 July are released tomorrow that should tick over 60%). For five year age groups 35-39 and up, the second dose percentages are at least 10% despite most people under 40 only being eligible for AZ.
What wasn't mentioned for reasons that are very clear:

"Airport and hotel staff, taxi drivers and the Australian Border Force are some of the workers with the highest potential exposure to Covid-19, but the lowest rates of vaccination, it can be revealed.

An investigation into jab rates in the Australian workforce shows just 43 per cent of aged care workers are fully vaccinated, while among airport workers the proportion is 33 per cent and for the marine unit of the Australian Border Force the numbers drop to 25 per cent."


More Coverage​

Every Covid case by Victorian suburb revealed

It is not as if there are foreign ships arriving with CV +ve sailors...
 
Moderna is also currently conducting trials of a low-dose vaccine for under 12 year olds, and possibly for use to as young as 6 months.

I believe that Pfizer also intend to do the same.
They have a vested interest in getting doses approved for young people. With the death rates from COVID-19 so low in the under 12s there would be a higher bar to pass to get these not only approved for use, but recommended.

However if we can't get enough adults to take it then the only way to herd immunity would require vaccinating a significant percentage of children.
 
Moderna is also currently conducting trials of a low-dose vaccine for under 12 year olds, and possibly for use to as young as 6 months.


I believe that Pfizer also intend to do the same.
Great to hear. I am eager to vaccinate my 10 & 8 year olds once the vaccines are approved for their age brackets.
 
And those adults who won’t take the vax, presumably will also deprive their children of being vaccinated

You will be amazed how an enhanced version of financially driven ‘no jab no plays’ will work ;) Big fat $ penalties will turn most. Works now quite well.
 
"Airport and hotel staff, taxi drivers and the Australian Border Force are some of the workers with the highest potential exposure to Covid-19, but the lowest rates of vaccination, it can be revealed.

An investigation into jab rates in the Australian workforce shows just 43 per cent of aged care workers are fully vaccinated, while among airport workers the proportion is 33 per cent and for the marine unit of the Australian Border Force the numbers drop to 25 per cent."

Slide 12. They were included in phase 1A.

These people have NO excuse for not being vaccinated. I can only presume it is a conscious choice from these employees to be unvaccinated. Fine, don't punish the rest of the community for their own personal decisions.
 

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