VACCINATION – AUSTRALIA

Updated national Covid plan suggests 80% of Australians could be fully vaccinated by end of 2021

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Original article by Sarah Martin
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Aug-21

The federal government released an updated version of its National COVID Vaccine Campaign Plan on 3 August. Amongst other things, it outlines plans to ramp up the vaccine rollout by operating drive-through vaccination clinics in most states and territories by mid-October. Retail vaccinations hubs are also slated to commence in October, along with workplace vaccination programs. The rollout could also potentially be extended to schools by early December. The revised plan also indicates that 70 per cent of the eligible population could be fully vaccinated by November, potentially rising to 80 per cent by December.

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AstraZeneca blitz: PM says get the jab now

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Original article by Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Jul-21

Prime Scott Morrison says he is sorry that the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout has missed a series of targets. However, he says it is "totally focused" on turning this around. Morrison has also revealed plans to ramp up the number of pharmacies that are able to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, while he has urged younger Australians to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Morrison contends that the emergence of the Delta variant in Australia means that the AstraZeneca vaccine should no longer be restricted to people over the age of 60, and notes that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved its use among people aged 18+. Meanwhile, the TGA is set to approve Pfizer’s application for its vaccine to be given to children aged 12-16.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ASTRAZENECA PLC, AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION

PM opens the Pfizer floodgates

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 9-Jul-21

The federal government has secured a deal with Pfizer to receive about one million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine per week from 19 July. This will significantly boost the vaccination rollout program, given that Australia received an average of 300,000 to 350,000 doses of the Pfizer jab each week during May and June. The vaccination program will also be ramped up in Sydney to combat the harbour city’s growing COVID-19 outbreak; an additional 150,000 doses of both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines will be made available, with a focus on vulnerable people in suburbs that have a high case load. The state government has not ruled out a further extension of the Greater Sydney lockdown.

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PFIZER INCORPORATED, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Fewer than 8% of Australian adults fully vaccinated four months into Covid rollout

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Original article by Christopher Knaus
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 2-Jul-21

New data from the federal government shows that just 1.63 million Australians aged 16+ (7.92 per cent) have received both doses of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to date. Some 6.11 million (about 30%) have had their first dose since the vaccine rollout began in late February. The figures also show that despite being a priority in the rollout, the proportion of older Australians who are fully vaccinated remains low. This varies from 38.4 per cent of people in the 95+ age group to 5.7 per cent of those aged 65-69. Epidemiologist Hassan Vally says the number of people aged 60+ who are fully vaccinated should rise sharply in coming weeks, due to the 12-week delay in receiving the second AstraZeneca dose.

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ASTRAZENECA PLC, PFIZER INCORPORATED

PM seeks deal to end lockdowns

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Original article by Greg Brown, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Jul-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will try to get an agreement from the premiers and chief ministers on the vaccination threshold that needs to be met in order to end COVID-19 lockdowns when national cabinet meets on 2 July. Morrison says the "magic number" for this threshold will be determined by medical science. The national cabinet has already been given modelling for a vaccination threshold based on the Alpha variant, while modelling for one based on the more contagious Delta variant is understood to be nearly finished. Meanwhile, some premiers have called for a big reduction in the number of international arrivals until the majority of Australians have been vaccinated.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

PM opens vaccines to under-40s

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Original article by Greg Brown, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: Online : 29-Jun-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has disclosed a plan for compulsory vaccination for aged care workers by September, following a meeting of national cabinet on 28 June. The meeting also agreed that people under the age of 40 would be able to join the vaccine rollout and receive the AstraZeneca jab, while Morrison said the federal government would offer doctors indemnity for giving vaccines to anyone under 60. Twenty-three new COVID-19 cases in Australia were reported on 28 June, with 18 being in NSW, while the Northern Territory government extended the snap lockdown of the Darwin region until 2 July after a new case was reported in the NT.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Virgin to give away business-class flights

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 24-Jun-21

Virgin Australia has announced it will give away free business class flights and Velocity frequent flyer points to encourage passengers to get vaccinated against COVID-19. It will also be encouraging its staff to get vaccinated, offering them flexible work arrangements to help them make appointments, along with extra annual leave, lounge memberships and business class flights. Sixty-five per cent of its flight crews and airport teams have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while 58 per cent of its corporate teams are already vaccinated or have made an appointment.

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VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED

Only 31pc of aged care staff have had their jab

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Jun-21

It has been revealed that as of the week beginning 22 June, just 31 per cent of aged care workers have told their employer that they have at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshi said that 31 per cent was "nowhere near good enough", and that aged care staff should be subject to mandatory vaccination requirements. Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler has accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of leaving aged care workers to fend for themselves, while he noted that Morrison had "promised to fully vaccinate aged care workers by Easter".

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AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Jab deliveries to rise despite Italy’s ban

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Original article by Ben Packham, Adeshola Ore
The Australian – Page: 5 : 8-Mar-21

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on 7 March that the federal government was confident in the continuity of COVID-19 vaccine supplies to Australia. This is despite France threatening to join Italy in blocking exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia. Hunt was speaking as he received his vaccine jab, as did Julia Gillard, while he said that Australia would soon be delivering more than 500,000 vaccinations a week. GPs will be brought in for phase 1b of the vaccine rollout, which will commence on 22 March, while the federal government is aiming to have four million Australians receive their first vaccine jab by early April.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Increased rollout after jab target miss

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Original article by Adeshola Ore
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Mar-21

The federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has fallen well behind schedule; just 30,000 people nationwide received the Pfizer vaccine in the first week of the rollout, compared with the government’s target of 60,000 by the end of February. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the arrival of the first 300,000 overseas-made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will allow the inoculation of priority groups to be ramped up. Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, although residents in 10 suburbs in Melbourne’s east have been put on alert after virus fragments were detected in wastewater.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PFIZER INCORPORATED, ASTRAZENECA PLC