The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

[RooFlyer]

They also filled in my International Certificate of Vaccination booklet with the 2 doses, without batting an eye. I was expecting a bit of discussion about it.

interestingly, they didn’t specify the vaccine type, just ‘Covid 19’.

 

[Lynda2475]

Some young people are apparently rocking up to hubs and being able to get AZ

A Victorian phenominon perhaps, as there are no walk ups in NSW, no appointment, no jab.

 

[Lynda2475]

Australia is one of a few jurisdictions not giving AZ to under 60s

Actually a great deal of western Europe is restricting use of AZ:

• BRITAIN - now only recommending AZ for over 40s (was over 30s)
• ESTONIA - Suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 on April 7.
• FRANCE - Approved resumption of the vaccine on March 19 but said it should be given only to people aged 55 and over. On April 9, recommended that recipients of a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot who are under 55 should receive a second dose with a messenger RNA vaccine.
• FINLAND - for people aged 65 and over only.
• GERMANY - On March 31, issued guidance to limit use of the vaccine to those aged over 60. On April 1, vaccine commission recommended people under 60 who have had a first shot of the vaccine should receive a different product for their second dose
• IRELAND - restricting use of the vaccine to those over 60.
• ITALY - Has recommended the vaccine be used only for people over 60
• NETHERLANDS - Limited use of the vaccine to people over 60
• NORTH MACEDONIA - Health minister said on March 31 the vaccine would be limited to people aged over 60
• SPAIN - From April 8, it was giving the vaccine only to people over 60.
• SWEDEN - Resumed use of the vaccine on March 25 for people aged 65 and older
• DENMARK, NORWAY - suspended altogether

Plus some provinces in Canada have banend AZ altogther.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Vaccines injected Friday 25 June was 119,973

 

[Flying mermaid]

I have noticed Friday vaccinations are generally lower - people not wanting to disrupt their weekends with side effects?

 

[Chalkie]

Plus some provinces in Canada have banend AZ altogther.

This is incorrect. AZ remains approved by Health Canada as a Covid vaccine. Provinces cannot "banend" [sic] a vaccine. They may refrain from administering it, but it is not "banend" by Health Canada and remains approved.

There is hardly any supply of AZ left in Canada in any event, so speaking about AZ in the Canadian context is irrelevant. Like ATAGI, the Canadian equivalent (NACI) overstepped its bounds in its approach to "preferencing" mRNA vaccines over AZ against approval from Health Canada of a safe and effective vaccine. Fortunately for NACI, given the supply constraints for AZ and unlimited mRNA supplies in Canada, the overstepping of its bounds did not, unlike in Australia, have serious consequences.

I had AZ for D1, but was unable to obtain it for D2, although AZ for D2 was my preference. So for my D2 today I had no choice but to have an mRNA vaccine. Fortunately the science behind heterologous vaccination is sound and the studies that have taken place so far have identified no safety signals and high efficacy and effectiveness, both from a surface antibody and T-cell perspective. I would not be surprised to see that a D1 viral vector and D2 mRNA and subsequent mRNA boosters is the most effective combination.

 

[RooFlyer]

There is hardly any supply of AZ left in Canada in any event, so speaking about AZ in the Canadian context is irrelevant.

Not, I suggest, in the actual context in which it was offered. And I think "refraining from administering it" is as good as a 'ban' isn't it? Same effect of each - you can't get it that route.

What is the 'bound' of approach that you think ATAGI has over-stepped in its preferencing (for certain age groups) mRNA over AZ?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

This is incorrect. AZ remains approved by Health Canada as a Covid vaccine. Provinces cannot "banend" [sic] a vaccine. They may refrain from administering it, but it is not "banend" by Health Canada and remains approved.

There is hardly any supply of AZ left in Canada in any event, so speaking about AZ in the Canadian context is irrelevant. Like ATAGI, the Canadian equivalent (NACI) overstepped its bounds in its approach to "preferencing" mRNA vaccines over AZ against approval from Health Canada of a safe and effective vaccine. Fortunately for NACI, given the supply constraints for AZ and unlimited mRNA supplies in Canada, the overstepping of its bounds did not, unlike in Australia, have serious consequences.

I had AZ for D1, but was unable to obtain it for D2, although AZ for D2 was my preference. So for my D2 today I had no choice but to have an mRNA vaccine. Fortunately the science behind heterologous vaccination is sound and the studies that have taken place so far have identified no safety signals and high efficacy and effectiveness, both from a surface antibody and T-cell perspective. I would not be surprised to see that a D1 viral vector and D2 mRNA and subsequent mRNA boosters is the most effective combination.

Thank you for you updates on what is happening in Canada, and on your experiences in getting vaccinated there.

 

[eastwest101]

Some young people are apparently rocking up to hubs and being able to get AZ.... It was on the news last night... here is a related story.

I fully support some of the ATAGI members thoughts that people should be able to choose if they want AZ and let them get it if they want.

———

Australians under 40 are crying out for the coronavirus vaccine — are we listening?


Overheard in Sydney, just a few hours before lockdown:

"It was pissing me off earlier in the week — went out to a bakery and the only people not wearing masks were three old men, all of whom had probably been vaccinated. Young people have given up so much to protect old people — happily for the most part — and it sucks to see them not doing their part."

She, like virtually every 20 to 40-year-old I know is desperate to be vaccinated.

They'd take the AZ in a heartbeat if allowed — they narrow their eyes resentfully at Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who fret and pace over whether to wait for Pfizer or go now.

They see footage of empty mass vaccination centres. If you don't want it, their silence fairly screams, then get. Out. Of. The. Way.

Some have simply charged through the queue. Oakley, 24, heard that a local health service was giving AZ to whoever wanted it, turned up, had a chat about the under 50 warning and walked away with his first shot.

The young and the vaxless: Furious under 40s are crying out to be vaccinated

Virtually every 20 to 40-year-old I know is desperate to be vaccinated. They would take the AZ in a heartbeat if allowed and narrow their eyes resentfully at Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who fret about it, writes Virginia Trioli.

www.abc.net.au

An interesting article, and some good points, but Trioli may want to check her demographics - quite a lot of Gen-Xers are ineligible/discouraged on the current Fed web site "Am I eligible for vaccination?" for any vaccine at the moment, and the younger you go, the harder it is to get vaccinated unless you have unlimited time to try to "gatecrash" or opportunistically get into a mass vaccination clinic and get lucky that the clinic has stock close to expiry and have staff prepared to "bend the rules" or make the executive decision to vaccinate under 50s, these clinics are only located in major cities by the way.

If we accept that Gen X were born from 1965 to 1980 then it follows that only about approx 56% of Gen Xs are over the age of 50 right now, and were eligible for vaccination (obviously some Gen X in preferred vac groups eg healthcare workers etc) and the other 44% are too young and ineligible for vaccination, so that's a bit unfair to lump Gen X in with other older groups/demographics whom may or may not be hesitant about vaccination.

The multi-tiered priority system is great for when you have a limited number of vaccines, but depending on if you think Australia is beyond that or not, the priority-tiered approach can have some perverse outcomes now if the aim is to get as many vaccinated as possible. Vaccines in fridges are pretty pointless, they need to be in arms of people to be effective.

 

[auriga]

The booking system for the Pfizer vaccine in NSW is really not very user- friendly.
There is really no way of knowing which of the centres is available first.
You basically have to pick one centre, then do the whole registration process (10 minutes or so), before you can get to the appointments page.
If you want to try another centre, you have to repeat the registration process for that centre!

For what it's worth, I was quite surprised to find that appointments are available [at hospitals] almost any day, even for tomorrow. This is for general public, not staff or high risk groups. Don't know whether to be glad vaccines are easily available, or to be upset that people are not rushing to get vaccinated.

 

[RooFlyer]

. Don't know whether to be glad vaccines are easily available, or to be upset that people are not rushing to get vaccinated.

Best of both worlds - people (not you) can complain either way! .

 

[jakeseven7]

The multi-tiered priority system is great for when you have a limited number of vaccines, but depending on if you think Australia is beyond that or not, the priority-tiered approach can have some perverse outcomes now if the aim is to get as many vaccinated as possible. Vaccines in fridges are pretty pointless, they need to be in arms of people to be effective.

Exactly and because the government butchered a perfectly good vaccine we could have tonnes of it given it can be made here and individually people should be given the opportunity to decide whether they would like to take it or not knowing the microscopic risk.

 

[jakeseven7]

Australia now considering the JnJ vax.... wow seriously

——


Late this afternoon the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd contradicted earlier reports and indicated there would be further discussions about whether Australia would purchase the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong into two-week lockdown

Gladys Berejiklian says a two-week lockdown is necessary because confirmed COVID cases have been active in the community for a number of days.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Pushka]

Australia now considering the JnJ vax.... wow seriously

——


Late this afternoon the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd contradicted earlier reports and indicated there would be further discussions about whether Australia would purchase the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong into two-week lockdown

Gladys Berejiklian says a two-week lockdown is necessary because confirmed COVID cases have been active in the community for a number of days.

www.abc.net.au

So can we define this as a case of flexibility or not knowing what the heck we are doing?

 

[jakeseven7]

So can we define this as a case of flexibility or not knowing what the heck we are doing?

So JnJ all good but no no, can’t use AZ...? hmmm I’d go with another complete cluster at the National level.

 

[Pushka]

So JnJ all good but no no, can’t use AZ...? hmmm I’d go with another complete cluster at the National level.

I used the term cluster quite some days ago. Still apt.

 

[jakeseven7]

Well Pfizer has been shown to cause myocarditis in the younger cohorts especially, follows the Israel link published a few weeks ago, now backed up with more data.

Wonder how Australia will handle this one, hopefully we don’t butcher another perfectly good vaccine...

It is being added as an offical warning to their label in the US.

——

Pfizer and Moderna jabs linked to heart inflammation in rare cases

Vaccinated patients ‘should seek immediate medical attention’ if they get new chest pain or shortness of breath

www.independent.co.uk

US heart warning for Pfizer, Moderna shots

The US Food and Drug Administration is now including a warning for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines about the rare risk of heart inflammation.

www.perthnow.com.au

FDA to add warning about rare heart inflammation to Moderna, Pfizer vaccine fact sheets

A CDC safety panel has determined there is a "likely association" between the Pfizer and Moderna shots and cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in vaccine recipients.

www.politico.com

CDC safety group says there's a likely link between rare heart inflammation in young people after Covid shot

"This is still a rare event," Dr. Tom Shimabukuro said at the meeting. For both vaccines combined, there were 12.6 heart inflammation cases per million doses.

www.cnbc.com

NoCookies | The Australian

www.theaustralian.com.au

 

[drron]

Agree 100% that doses must not be wasted but isn't this a little bit 'smoke & mirrors'?

As AZ is not supposed to be given to under 60s - that rules out over 90% of people living in Polynesia. The median age, for example, for Micronesia is just 26.8 and Melanesia is 22.8 (includes PNG).

Samoa is 21.8, Vanuatu 21.1, and Tonga is 22.8.

The median age for Australia is 37.2 in comparision, with just under 20% of Australians, permanent residents & visitors aged 60 or over.

The combined population for Micro & Melanesia is around 11.7m people, so the AZ doses required to treat the 60yr+ residents (2 x 1.17m =) 2.34m or 17 days CSL production.

Given usage so far, & projected demand (2nd doses + new demand), that leaves around 42 million of the contracted 50 million AZ doses as surplus to requirements. With current stockpiling - I hope we hear some decisions being made asap before China totally out-manouevres Australia.

For example, sending doses to India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc. Perhaps complete with defence force medical teams to (temporarily) run mass vaccination clinics & fly the flag).

Rubbish.
The reason that the age limit of 60 was introduced in Australia was introduced because the risk from covid was about the same as the risk for blood clots.
In countries with very large numbers of cases such as PNG the risk of covid would outweigh the risk of vaccines even at age 20.So the demand for AZ will be very much larger than your figures.
Add to that the fact that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 10 times dearer than AZ and that AZ requires far less expertise in storage and delivery than those vaccines it is still the preferred option for places such as PNG.

Just an interesting fact.Malaysia decided to run down their AZ supplies and offered it to over 70s for 3 days.They still had ~ 950000 doses left so offered it to anyone over 18.In 1 hour those doses were all booked.

Then read this from crikey.

Why 'rare' is an inadequate word when it comes to blood clots and the vaccine

The media's fixation on rare vaccine side effects is resulting in bullshit by omission — with potentially deadly results.

www.crikey.com.au

I find myself in agreement with their thoughts.

 

[Lynda2475]

It was pointless to give approval to J&J, its basically the same as AZ but in a single dose and has the same blood clot issue. Would be a poor decision to invest tax dollers in another version of something that is already unwanted.

Moderna is used more than J&J in US and some other countries, would have thought it would of been approved first as a lot of real world data available.

 

[jakeseven7]

It was pointless to give approval to J&J, its basically the same as AZ but in a single dose and has the same blood clot issue. Would be a poor decision to invest tax dollers in another version of something that is already unwanted.

Moderna is used more than J&J in US and some other countries, would have thought it would of been approved first as a lot of real world data available.

JnJ could enter the market privately... probably be faster than the woeful rollout we are seeing currently.