General COVID-19 Vaccine Discussion

[ethernet]

Sign in Walgreens, Portland Oregon USA yesterday
"There are no Covid vaccination appointments available in the next 3 months within 25 miles". My understanding is Portland decided to jab all teachers first so education could resume per normal. However teachers have reported problems and the booking systems broken.

 

[Pushka]

Totally agree.

As an epidemiologist on the ABC said recently about the govt making the excuse that we don't have an emergency in Australia - if the govt doesn't think that snap lockdowns of entire states constitute an emergency then they have a strange definition of 'emergency'.

Indeed. And I always thought the concept of a (preventive) vaccination programme was to ummm, prevent the emergency. Silly me.

 

[OATEK]

As an epidemiologist on the ABC said recently about the govt making the excuse that we don't have an emergency in Australia - if the govt doesn't think that snap lockdowns of entire states constitute an emergency then they have a strange definition of 'emergency'.

Indeed. And I always thought the concept of a (preventive) vaccination programme was to ummm, prevent the emergency. Silly me.

I know we all want to see change, and the vaccine is the key. But a short while ago Boris and his government were being panned for the slow rollout of the vaccine, while thousands were dying from Covid-19. That is what I call an emergency.

 

[ethernet]

We may not be in a life or death situation like other countries, however I find it totally unacceptable to use that as an excuse for this continued fumbling. It's not as if the vaccination program was something that was thrown onto the scene in the past 24 hours with no prior notice. It's a bit like international borders and getting stranded Australians home and hotel quarantine. We are a year down the track and what progress has been made on developing a program to suit the needs? It's one flub after another. If senior management had a similar performance in private enterprise someone would have been shown the door long again. There is almost a sense of smugness in Oz, we think we are clever because we have avoided the worst of CV. If anything we were lucky that the initial decision to close borders happened early. Not sure that same sense of smugness is going to be around once the rest of the world is vaccinated while we dither and they return to normal and recover economically. Here the attitude seems to be throw a sporting event on to distract the mindless masses, pump out increased government benefits in an effort to buy votes for what is obviously posturing for a forthcoming election and throw out more subsidies to distract from the real issue. Once again lack of any real journalism in Oz means they can get away with it.

Close, but no banana. In Operation Research or OR terms, the unspoken goal is to maximize political fortunes in the October election, and minimize economic costly and politically costly snap lockdowns - especially around election time. The PR consultants need new dry powder in October. So they can place publicly paid positive ads (guitar strumming) citing the success of the vaccinations and life is back to normal.

The reality is gutless premiers will still have 14 day paid hotel quarantine in place, complete silence about keeping restriction in place (is it the Irish who say to be sure sure and sure to be sure). In PR or political minder speak, you NEVER tell your electorate bad news, or reconfirm unpopuar policy will stay for now, but give ambiguous Nostradamus predictions of a rosey and prosperous future, and fit in as many 'create JOB's' , Jobs, and 'Work Together' as you can. Reminder add 'Jobs vaccine' in there. Never neve,r and silence any talk on what is going on in the rest of the world or OECD that confirms politicians are a pack of drongos. After the election, only then will we hear 'awaiting to herd immunity levels to stabilise - blah blah - no overseas flights for you, because that mutant strain might get in and kill a bunch of leftist leaning ignorant vaccine deniers.

Meanwhile in Israel, they have the green pass or passport. Those who have the shot have more freedoms, and restrictions apply to the have-nots. People who do not take the shot, know their employability is at risk. They use sweetners. Free drinks for guys who have their shot in trendy streets. If YOUR model is broken, change it. So far Israel has the best model. It is really is a no-brainer that is the model we need to transition to.

 

[Toula92122]

Actually I am beginning to wonder if the delay in vaccinating everyone at a rapid speed is deliberate. As long as the majority are not vaccinated they can cling to making no decision on opening borders because every time ScoMo or Hunt speak on the vaccination program they provide no information as to what the requirements might be to reopen to the world. Based on that I think it's safe to conclude there is no plan, they are totally winging it. Not opening the border plays to the audience who think the big brave government are saving us from the scary outside world like they are a bunch of superheros. Though saying that the thought of ScoMo in superman tights is a scary vision.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I don't think it is deliberately slow for political ends. It might be deliberately slow so that we have no significant consequences. We all know that the vaccination program is really inconsequential until the Oxford-AZ supply out of CSL in Melbourne comes online. As long as the system is ready to go full speed from then, all will be well.

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, all those people trying to find conspiracies and doubts of the vaccination rollout. How about considering just how many doses are actually in Australia? I don't know, but I do know it is arriving progressively and we aren't awash with the stuff. The rate of vaccination is scheduled to increase as the country takes deliveries of more Pfizer and then the AZ, and then when we make AZ ourselves. Any projection of the current rate out to say, the end of the year or more is ridiculous, to put it politely.

I agree that some states are slow, but if you want to guarantee stuff-ups, as opposed to having the occasional one which would probably happen anyway, then have the government do something its never done before, as fast as they possibly can.

The fact is there isn't an emergency and I'm happy with a slow start, as long as they ramp up as more vaccine arrives and the distribution etc gets honed.

 

[Pushka]

The fact is there isn't an emergency and I'm happy with a slow start, as long as they ramp up as more vaccine arrives and the distribution etc gets honed.

So for many there is a trust issue that this is how it will all play out once supplies arrive. But the last 12 months have shown that some states handle such emergencies well, and others havent.

Read an article today (can't find it now as google has removed the 'news' search function ) that a Professor was exploring why there is a large percentage of people who are uncertain about getting the jab. And he attributed that very much to the fact there people simply don't know how they will be contacted, where they will be getting the jab and when that will be. There has been nothing to inform people about the process and surely that should have been worked out by now. It is all so uncertain. And that too is impacting on peoples confidence in the system.

 

[RooFlyer]

And he attributed that very much to the fact there people simply don't know how they will be contacted, where they will be getting the jab and when that will be. There has been nothing to inform people about the process and surely that should have been worked out by now. It is all so uncertain. And that too is impacting on peoples confidence in the system.

I can certainly empathise with the first bit. The leader of the roll-out here in Tas was on the morning ABC radio twice last week. She was asked several times if or how people in various sectors (seniors not in aged care homes, nurses in general practice, a diabetic etc) would be notified. The answers every time were vague to outright evasive. "We will be rolling out information on that" was the stock reply. When absolutely pinned down whether the seniors category would be pro-actively contacted or not, the answer was still vague, but essentially that they wouldn't, until it was found they were missing from the list at the end of their phase, then their GP 'should' phone them.

I was pi**ed off at her for squibbing an important message, but I'm still willing to let more than a week go by before I make judgement on the entire effort. Its the essential heath etc workers now, they are being contacted and called in, and the teams are going aged care facility to facility for the elderly in those places, so the absolute at-risk people are being proactively looked after as far as the current supplies of vaccine allow.

With the occasional stuff-up.

 

[tgh]

We are suffering from our success and folks are expecting to be spoon fed their vaccine.
In the US folks are super proactive, waiting in phone queue's for hours chasing an appointment.
They have had a good fright.. we have not

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Emergency use/approval of vaccine does not equal State’s state of emergency.

 

[Pushka]

We are suffering from our success and folks are expecting to be spoon fed their vaccine.
In the US folks are super proactive, waiting in phone queue's for hours chasing an appointment.
They have had a good fright.. we have not

If given the chance many Aussies would be lining up too. I don’t think people are expecting to be spoon fed - they just want information which is not forthcoming. You really think with all these border closures we haven’t had a fright?

 

[burmans]

I don't think it is deliberately slow for political ends. It might be deliberately slow so that we have no significant consequences. We all know that the vaccination program is really inconsequential until the Oxford-AZ supply out of CSL in Melbourne comes online. As long as the system is ready to go full speed from then, all will be well.

If we can’t do 60k vaccinations in 3 weeks what makes you think we can meet the stated target? 25 million people * 2 jabs is 50 million jabs over 30 or so weeks. That 1.7M per week, the number just don’t add up, even if we assume only 70-80% take up that’s means we need to start immunisation at a vastly increased rate than now, how do we scale from 20k a week to 50 to 60 times that!

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

If we can’t do 60k vaccinations in 3 weeks what makes you think we can meet the stated target? 25 million people * 2 jabs is 50 million jabs over 30 or so weeks. That 1.7M per week, the number just don’t add up, even if we assume only 70-80% take up that’s means we need to start immunisation at a vastly increased rate than now, how do we scale from 20k a week to 50 to 60 times that!

When CSL pump out Astra Zeneca at over 1m doses per week and the supplies end up with pharmacies and GP practices around the country because there are no storage issues

And the over 16/18 number is probably about 18-20 million people

 

[flydoc]

When CSL pump out Astra Zeneca at over 1m doses per week and the supplies end up with pharmacies and GP practices around the country because there are no storage issues

And the over 16/18 number is probably about 18-20 million people

As it currently stands, after the first 12 weeks the first AZ recipients will start having their second jabs while those in later groups are progressively offered their first ones, which might well create a sustained period of peak demand of perhaps 2m doses/week

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

As it currently stands, after the first 12 weeks the first AZ recipients will start having their second jabs while those in later groups are progressively offered their first ones, which might well create a sustained period of peak demand of perhaps 2m doses/week

Perhaps. End March (by which Astra Zeneca should have at least started) to End October is 30 weeks, so 30 million jabs/doses.....enough for 15 million fully vaccinated. But say 8-10 million are fully vaccinated by then.

Astra Zeneca can have second dose between 4 and 12 weeks I believe.

 

[Anna]

the thought of ScoMo in superman tights

Hey be careful, some of us read AFF over breakfast

 

[Flashback]

Mrs FB getting hers on Friday, I'll likely not be far behind once I sort out the snafu with the GP. Will be good to be in the group of people who might be allowed to then enter some countries around the world with a vaccine passport; although the question remains..... will you be OK with the first jab, or require both?

 

[VPS]

My 75 yo friend in London has had her vaccination and she told me this morning she's going to the US to visit family for 6 weeks from mid April. She thinks she's indestructible.

 

[Princess Fiona]

The FDA has granted Emergency Authorization for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
BBC
This is massive!!! It’s a single shot vaccine.