The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

[jakeseven7]

Some good news for once - GP clinics are absolutely smashing it just need to give them more stock!

Still massive shortages of vaccine and the clinics are operating way way way under capacity - we know of clinics with active patient bases over 20,000 on just 50 doses a week. Still.

Also great news that to GPs will also be rolling out Pfizer after the storage clarifications from the TGA too.

Someone just get the 5000 registered clinics tonnes more stock please and let them do their work. Figure out the supply back end and let’s go.
——

‘Now that’s mass vaccination’: Local GPs lead Australian rollout​

The nation’s general practitioners collectively reached a quiet milestone, when they became the largest source of vaccinations in Australia, overtaking the states and territories.

By Friday, the GPs involved in the rollout had delivered more than 662,000 AstraZeneca doses in less than four weeks.

It’s been a refrain repeated by other GPs and those responsible for vaccine delivery – that it is limited supplies that are holding them back.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the government would now involve GPs in the Pfizer rollout, due to changed advice by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

It allows unopened Pfizer vials to be stored at the temperature of a domestic fridge for five days and longer in a domestic freezer. Mr Hunt said he hoped “many” GPs would be involved in Pfizer delivery.

Local GPs lead Australia’s vaccine rollout

Australia’s GPs quietly reached a significant milestone this week, and there are growing calls to more heavily involve them in the future Pfizer rollout.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some good news for once - GP clinics are absolutely smashing it just need to give them more stock!

Still massive shortages of vaccine and the clinics are operating way way way under capacity - we know of clinics with active patient bases over 20,000 on just 50 doses a week. Still.

Also great news that to GPs will also be rolling out Pfizer after the storage clarifications from the TGA too.

Someone just get the 5000 registered clinics tonnes more stock please and let them do their work. Figure out the supply back end and let’s go.
——

‘Now that’s mass vaccination’: Local GPs lead Australian rollout​

The nation’s general practitioners collectively reached a quiet milestone, when they became the largest source of vaccinations in Australia, overtaking the states and territories.

By Friday, the GPs involved in the rollout had delivered more than 662,000 AstraZeneca doses in less than four weeks.

It’s been a refrain repeated by other GPs and those responsible for vaccine delivery – that it is limited supplies that are holding them back.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the government would now involve GPs in the Pfizer rollout, due to changed advice by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

It allows unopened Pfizer vials to be stored at the temperature of a domestic fridge for five days and longer in a domestic freezer. Mr Hunt said he hoped “many” GPs would be involved in Pfizer delivery.

Local GPs lead Australia’s vaccine rollout

Australia’s GPs quietly reached a significant milestone this week, and there are growing calls to more heavily involve them in the future Pfizer rollout.

www.theage.com.au

They are doing a great job but it’s not solving the vaccine hesitancy problem. If I remember correctly their numbers dropped from 40,000 to 33,000 Thursday to Friday. Is that lack of stock or lack of people? At 3pm yesterday there were still appointments for that afternoon with my local respiratory centre, so vaccine available but no one taking it up...,

Pfizer will help as clearly that’s what people want but presumably that’s only for under 50s. Or will they be able to give to people like my 88 year old friend who is happy to have Pfizer but won’t touch AZ?

 

[Pushka]

They are doing a great job but it’s not solving the vaccine hesitancy problem. If I remember correctly their numbers dropped from 40,000 to 33,000 Thursday to Friday. Is that lack of stock or lack of people? At 3pm yesterday there were still appointments for that afternoon with my local respiratory centre, so vaccine available but no one taking it up...,

Pfizer will help as clearly that’s what people want but presumably that’s only for under 50s. Or will they be able to give to people like my 88 year old friend who is happy to have Pfizer but won’t touch AZ?

Please tell your friend that this duck is more than 20 years younger, had a DVT in her jugular vein just four years ago, has a blood clotting disorder, and ran all the way to get her AZ vaccine.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Please tell your friend that this duck is more than 20 years younger, had a DVT in her jugular vein just four years ago, has a blood clotting disorder, and ran all the way to get her AZ vaccine.

I will try - her GP has explained to her that they are not the same thing, but she is a stubborn old thing. I have great admiration for her and hope I am half as able as she if I get to 88, but she is hard to shift .....

 

[Flying mermaid]

Just to amuse myself I went and had a look at figures from Health.gov

9th April. Total vaccinations 1,138,866
16th April. total vaccinations. 1,474,558

so for the week 235,692 vaccination


Conservatively I would have thought there would be (AZ+ Pfizer) 450,000 doses available. Even allowing for wastage that seems a huge discrepancy. So what is happening - lack of delivery mechanism, doses in the wrong localities, vaccine hesitancy?

let’s hope last week was a bit of a blip and things pick up this week

 

[oznflfan]

Just to amuse myself I went and had a look at figures from Health.gov

9th April. Total vaccinations 1,138,866
16th April. total vaccinations. 1,474,558

so for the week 235,692 vaccination


Conservatively I would have thought there would be (AZ+ Pfizer) 450,000 doses available. Even allowing for wastage that seems a huge discrepancy. So what is happening - lack of delivery mechanism, doses in the wrong localities, vaccine hesitancy?

let’s hope last week was a bit of a blip and things pick up this week

End of the year we need 230,000 daily to do 2B.

 

[jakeseven7]

I will try - her GP has explained to her that they are not the same thing, but she is a stubborn old thing. I have great admiration for her and hope I am half as able as she if I get to 88, but she is hard to shift .....

Tell her Pfizer also is linked to clots as are half the pills she’s probably popped at some point in her life. But getting covid will definitely be worse...

 

[Lynda2475]

Even allowing for wastage that seems a huge discrepancy. So what is happening - lack of delivery mechanism, doses in the wrong localities, vaccine hesitancy

Wrong locations, insufficient Pfizer and hesitancy for sure.

GP appointments seem to be easy enough to come by if you are over 70 and dont need to worry about time off work. GP is inefficient channel for many younger people, who need more centralised mass vac centres where can fit around work and do not need a pre-existing relationship with a practice or an appointment.

Couple this with some states not allowing individuals under 50 to choose AZ at GPs i.e accept the risk, only allowing them to override health advice for Pfizer at certain vaccine locations which makes it harder.

I've heard many reports including on ABC re GPs saying they have lots of appointments available but other saying not enough vaccine. Youd think rather than blanket 50 doses per practice etc, practices would advise/order how many 1Bs they have on their books plus some extra for people whose own GP isnt participating.

Ive still yet to see peer reviewed study that Pfizer and Moderna are causing the same rare clotting problems as AZ and J&J. Lots of posts about DVT which is different and common. Media would be spruiking this loudly and we would see countries also banning those vaccines if the incidence was really as prevalent/equal to AZ.

For those of us on zero medication (and that includes not taking otc pain killers) risk of AZ when you are under 50 and not exposed to returning passengers is not worth it right now as no benefit such as international travel and virtually no chance of getting covid.

In Australia no women under 50 have died from Covid-19, but one looks to have died from clotting due to AZ. The concern is understandable. Death rate from Covid may be 2% globally but in Australia the death rate only gets scary for over 70s.

I will happily accept a Pfizer or Moderna jab right now. I would only consider AZ or J&J if chances of getting Covid l9cally was a real possibility i.e. uncontrolled rampant community spread. When there are a few community cases its easy to wfh and in public mask up with an N95 if cant avoid being close to strangers.

Im sure many under 50 will still choose to take AZ but you cant blame those would prefer Pfizer for choosing to wait. That doeent make them anti-vaxers or uninformed.

Now if the boarders open and i can travel quarantine free and get insurance i may reconsider AZ but unlikely if Pfizer is available. Especially since most places i want to visit have approved Pfizer but not AZ for my age group.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I have just done another check of the respiratory clinic near me. It has 5 vaccination clinics and they do appointments every 10 minutes until 5:30. I randomly checked 2 and starting at 1:40 I.e. in 5 minutes almost every slot was available - maybe 2 taken

 

[Austman]

Victorian vaccination hubs to open up as AstraZeneca jabs resume for under 50s​

"Victoria would resume its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged over 50 and those under 50 who wanted it."

Victorian vaccination hubs to open up as AstraZeneca jabs resume for under 50s

The Victorian government will throw open the doors of its three mass-vaccination hubs for people who have previously only been covered by the Commonwealth's coronavirus vaccine rollout.

www.abc.net.au

 

[jakeseven7]

GP appointments seem to be easy enough to come by if you are over 70 and dont need to worry about time off work. GP is inefficient channel for many younger people, who need more centralised mass vac centres where can fit around work and do not need a pre-existing relationship with a practice or an appointment.

GPs managed with pharmacists to smash out over 16 million flu vaccines last year. Pharmacists will probably be brought on again once supply starts making to the jabbers, it’s already been floated, they just don’t have enough supply yet.

I've heard many reports including on ABC re GPs saying they have lots of appointments available but other saying not enough vaccine. Youd think rather than blanket 50 doses per practice etc, practices would advise/order how many 1Bs they have on their books plus some extra for people whose own GP isnt participating.

Practices do and also did, in the original tender.

However they aren’t being delivered the numbers they want.

Throw that back to the Feds and the supply managers.

 

[jakeseven7]

I have just done another check of the respiratory clinic near me. It has 5 vaccination clinics and they do appointments every 10 minutes until 5:30. I randomly checked 2 and starting at 1:40 I.e. in 5 minutes almost every slot was available - maybe 2 taken

The problem with those respiratory clinics is that we are hearing they are in general massively over supplied but the GPs that actually look after patients in 1a and b are chronically under supplied and their patients are just waiting until their own doctor gets it in....

 

[mviy]

New plan for Aussie-made vaccine

Australia is interested in producing a cutting-edge form of COVID-19 vaccine onshore, but the Health Minister warns it could take the “best part of a year” for manufacturing to begin.

www.news.com.au

So we could produce mRNA vaccines in Australia but it likely wouldn't be up and running till after present expected vaccine shortages are no longer an issue it sounds like.

This could be very useful if booster shots are needed, however.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The problem with those respiratory clinics is that we are hearing they are in general massively over supplied but the GPs that actually look after patients in 1a and b are chronically under supplied and their patients are just waiting until their own doctor gets it in....

A few weeks ago you were waiting 2 weeks to get an appointment with the respiratory clinic...... ABC reporting that GPs are saying they are getting a large number of cancellations and there are thousands of unused vials sitting in fridges across the country. Now maybe after a week of being scared people will decide to get vaccinated - we will see.

part of the problem is the last politician I think anyone trusted was Bob Hawke. I have a lot of time for Kelly and Murphy, but I don’t think their graphs are convincing the average person. Maybe a touch feely campaign with musicians and sports people and local GPs saying “I was vaccinated and I am fine”. With a caveat down the bottom of “Check your circumstances with your GP”.

 

[mviy]

Interestingly the Guardian reports that the government tasked consultants with coming up with a business case for producing mRNA vaccines locally back in December. Also there are a few local mRNA vaccine candidates that can't even get to phase 1 trials because they can't currently be made locally in sufficient scale.

Australian government considering helping local manufacture of mRNA Covid vaccines

Health minister says there would be ‘a significant period of scaling up’ to produce vaccines such as Pfizer en masse

www.theguardian.com

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Victorian vaccination hubs to open up as AstraZeneca jabs resume for under 50s​

"Victoria would resume its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged over 50 and those under 50 who wanted it."

Victorian vaccination hubs to open up as AstraZeneca jabs resume for under 50s

The Victorian government will throw open the doors of its three mass-vaccination hubs for people who have previously only been covered by the Commonwealth's coronavirus vaccine rollout.

www.abc.net.au

Well it will be interesting to see how much the vaccinations now ramp up again in Vic....or not.

 

[jonboixxx]

So we could produce mRNA vaccines in Australia

I would hope there is a sense that Australia should have the capacity to produce the latest vaccines for the next threat. We have had plenty of warnings; HIV/AIDS, MERS, SARS, ZIKA etc. I do have faith in the very smart technologies of recombinant DNA development and for instance UQ clamp development, which CEPI is still funding.

 

[mviy]

Thousands of doses are sitting unused

‘You are at risk’: PM’s vaccine plea

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pleaded with eligible Australians, including those aged over 50, to get the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of a national cabinet meeting tomorrow about how to put the national rollout back on track.

www.news.com.au

 

[jonboixxx]

Thousands of doses are sitting unused

‘You are at risk’: PM’s vaccine plea

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pleaded with eligible Australians, including those aged over 50, to get the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of a national cabinet meeting tomorrow about how to put the national rollout back on track.

www.news.com.au

I will be getting mine. There are a number on AFF, saying why would I bother if I can't fly. I would encourage everyone to vaccinate, when they are able, in preparedness for what is in front of us. The sooner we are assumed to be vaccinated, the sooner we are proven to spread our wings!

 

[jonboixxx]

GP appointments seem to be easy enough to come by if you are over 70 and dont need to worry about time off work. GP is inefficient channel for many younger people, who need more centralised mass vac centres where can fit around work and do not need a pre-existing relationship with a practice or an appointment.

Couple this with some states not allowing individuals under 50 to choose AZ at GPs i.e accept the risk, only allowing them to override health advice for Pfizer at certain vaccine locations which makes it harder.

I've heard many reports including on ABC re GPs saying they have lots of appointments available but other saying not enough vaccine. Youd think rather than blanket 50 doses per practice etc, practices would advise/order how many 1Bs they have on their books plus some extra for people whose own GP isnt participating.

Any reason why you consistently are negative on the proven GP channel? As I anticipated much earlier in the conversation, they are doing the heavy-lifting in spite of the difficulties.