The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

[Comoman]

IMO this is key:

"The overall number of reports received for blood clots following vaccination so far has been no higher than the expected background rate for the more common type of blood clots in Australia. These can occur in around 50 Australians every day separate to vaccination and are not related to the very rare TTS clotting disorder."

 

[Flying mermaid]

Ms FM and her husband have just hit the 20 day mark after their AZ vaccinations. I wasn’t really worried but it was just a bit of background concern. Nice to have them vaccinated now. Very sad for the 3 (?) who have developed clots and of course for the death.

 

[Comoman]

Here in the UK my wife and I have both had the AZ first dose. Mine over a month ago. No issues for us.

 

[jakeseven7]

A friend of ours had a severe adverse reaction to Pfizer in the US and ended up with a clotting event too. But again because clotting is so relatively ‘prevalent’ they aren’t entirely sure it’s linked and it’s still being investigated.

 

[Flying mermaid]

So to start with I was pretty understanding of the slowness of the rollout. It was always meant to start slowly, GPs on boarded at a slow pace and then ramped up. All seemed quite reasonable as time to sort out teething problems and then hit max vaccinations. Lack of supply initially was a hindrance.

But we are now nearly a month into the GP rollout - there are supposedly 4,000 GPs vaccinating and we should have a million doses of AZ available each week plus a trickle of Pfizer. Yet daily vaccinations are down 25% from the peak.

Now if that is because under 50s can’t get vaccinated yet and there is vaccine hesitancy among the over 70s, why aren’t they immediately lowering the age from 70 to 65 and as soon as vaccinations drop off lower again to 60. Surely its important to get as many vaccinated as quickly as possible, rather than sticking to a rigid plan.

I checked the respiratory clinic near me again and plenty of available appointments today that aren’t being used....

 

[mviy]

That’s a very good point. I know someone in their early 60s who would get vaccinated today if it was allowed.

I’m in 2B and I would take the vaccine today if it were allowed as well.

 

[MelMel]

That’s a very good point. I know someone in their early 60s who would get vaccinated today if it was allowed.

I’m in 2B and I would take the vaccine today if it were allowed as well.

It’s a long shot but maybe talk to your GP clinic if they are administering the vaccine. I took my Mother yesterday for her shot. She was the last appointment and as we were waiting for her 15 minutes observation to be up the Doctor and receptionist were discussing the fact that they had seven doses left over. They rang their sister clinic in the next suburb to see if any of the reception staff wanted one. I’ve been to that clinic and most of the staff would be under 50.

 

[Toula92122]

I think there are likely multiple reasons the program is dragging. Family member in 1B went for vaccination in NT but was turned away as slightly under 50 and they only have AZ, no Pfizer offered. She asked well now what and what met with a simple shoulder shrug.

I was at a Drs office the other day and this Dr's office is starting a vax program this weekend. Client came in and took up a good 15 minutes of the nurses time wanting to know the ins and outs and the most important thing was that they schedule her vaccinations around her tennis schedule as she could not play if she had a sore arm. This was a 72 yo who obviously could be getting vaxxed at anytime at any of the 7 day centres. Next client in requesting an appointment was a similar story. No yes, what do you have, I'll take what you have. The same drawn out process while they consulted what works for them for the 2nd vaccination. These were not old people unable to venture further than their Drs office, but rather people who enjoy the routine of their Drs office so would imagine there would be more of the same.

 

[Pushka]

So to start with I was pretty understanding of the slowness of the rollout. It was always meant to start slowly, GPs on boarded at a slow pace and then ramped up. All seemed quite reasonable as time to sort out teething problems and then hit max vaccinations. Lack of supply initially was a hindrance.

But we are now nearly a month into the GP rollout - there are supposedly 4,000 GPs vaccinating and we should have a million doses of AZ available each week plus a trickle of Pfizer. Yet daily vaccinations are down 25% from the peak.

Now if that is because under 50s can’t get vaccinated yet and there is vaccine hesitancy among the over 70s, why aren’t they immediately lowering the age from 70 to 65 and as soon as vaccinations drop off lower again to 60. Surely its important to get as many vaccinated as quickly as possible, rather than sticking to a rigid plan.

I checked the respiratory clinic near me again and plenty of available appointments today that aren’t being used....

I guess you couldn't just pop in or maybe attend with daughter next time if it takes that long?

I think having access in 1b is the first time I've been grateful having lupus and APS.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I guess you couldn't just pop in or maybe attend with daughter next time if it takes that long?

I think having access in 1b is the first time I've been grateful having lupus and APS.

Dr FM suggested becoming an ambulance chaser and hanging around the respiratory clinic late afternoon . I really don’t need it, it’s just annoying to see the vaccination rates dropping and them sticking to a rigid plan. In the USA where they have a lot of vaccine hesitancy/refusal they just kept dropping the age limits to keep the vaccinations flowing. I wonder when New Zealand overtakes Australia (which I reckon they will), will they revise the plans?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

MSN

The military will be brought in to oversee Australia's rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

Navy Commodore Eric Young will be appointed to manage the logistics of the program coordinating the supply and distribution of the jabs.

This comes as National Cabinet is set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday as the government tries to get the vaccine rollout back on track.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Numbers for yesterday are 54,000 which are 10% down on the day before. Day before was 60,000 vs a peak of over 80,000. Sigh

 

[jakeseven7]

Numbers for yesterday are 54,000 which are 10% down on the day before. Day before was 60,000 vs a peak of over 80,000. Sigh

Thank A Current Affair, Skum News and NoNews for that. Got to love our quality media landscape here in Free Australia

The news that Pfizer and Moderna are linked to clots isn’t going to help vaccination rates either.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Thank A Current Affair, Skum News and NoNews for that. Got to love our quality media landscape here in Free Australia

The news that Pfizer and Moderna are linked to clots isn’t going to help vaccination rates either.

Don’t know how they are going to counter it. They keep standing up and providing statistics showing more chance of clots from the disease than the vaccine, but it doesn’t seem to be getting through. Anti Vaxxers must be gleeful.

I had a chat to a lovely 88 year old last weekend. She had a DVT some years ago and she is now too nervous to have the jab. Had seen her GP, he had explained that it wasn’t the same and she was in a very very low risk category, but she still won’t have AZ wants Pfizer.

 

[mviy]

Israel, one of the world leaders in terms of vaccine rollout has found as its rollout has progressed that it needs to provide incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated. There’s no reason to think that we won’t need to provide some form of encouragement to do so that benefits those who have no intention of travelling even when international borders reopen as our rollout progresses.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Israel, one of the world leaders in terms of vaccine rollout has found as its rollout has progressed that it needs to provide incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated. There’s no reason to think that we won’t need to provide some form of encouragement to do so that benefits those who have no intention of travelling even when international borders reopen as our rollout progresses.

Out of interest, what incentives are they using?

 

[tgh]

Believing in nothing but self is the current peak of western (and perhaps eastern) intellectual development.
It does however , present some issues when attempting to keep folks alive.
Bhutan, otoh, has just nailed it for Covid vaccination programs with a process driven primarily by belief.

How a tiny country used Buddhist astrology to vaccinate 93 per cent of its adults in 16 days

Bhutan has surged past Israel, the US and Bahrain to have the world's highest proportion of adults who have received one dose. But it wasn't just a lucky star that got them there.

www.abc.net.au

 

[ethernet]

Green Card, Free free drinks, attractive spruikers set up in trendy streets, and no quibble - you get Pfizer. They are also not criminally wasteful, and make exceptions when the alternative is waste.
In Australia they have lost sight of 'getting it done' and prefer to have wasteful, idle staff because you know, rules are rules. USA does get it - any arm will do, when no priority arms are in sight. Worse, there is slack in the system, because oldies are not presenting. And there is no 'Sorry, you missed your place, you get to wait until the next round' as needs to be the case in Australia.

 

[mviy]

Essentially once you get further in the rollout when all those desperate to get vaccinated have had the jab to try to get the remaining holdouts to take the jab to get up to herd immunity some kind of encouragement is needed. The incentives in Israel may/may not be appropriate here, but we could also put an Aussie slant on things e.g. have a free BBQ at mass vaccination clinics.

 

[OATEK]

I know that locally the number of GP surgeries offering vaccinations has increased in last few weeks, so hopefully a good sign. The Govt's instructions are to book online, and not flood GP surgeries with calls. But the 1b cohort are probably not generally online bookers by nature, particularly in the over 75s. NSW Seniors are constantly encouraging this cohort to take courses on personal computing in recognition of their under-representation in the online world.

Reckon there needs to be a bit of a more pro-active program, with perhaps a call centre to help facilitate bookings or similar for those not online.