Doesnt matter how old you are Leaders urge people to get vaccinated

Leaders are begging Sydney residents to get vaccinated to help slow the transmission of COVID-19 although Prime Minister Scott Morrison cautions the lockdown is still the main way of dealing with the Delta variant outbreak.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has changed its recommendation to people in Greater Sydney to “strongly consider” getting vaccinated “with any available vaccine including COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca” as the outbreak in NSW continues to grow.

NSW Health mass vaccination clinics like the one at Homebush have plenty of AstraZeneca supply available.Credit:Dean Sewell

Mr Morrison wants to see more AstraZeneca vaccinations delivered through the NSW state-run clinics to speed up the rollout during the crisis.

“There are some 1.3 million AstraZeneca vaccines that are available. They’re in the fridge, they’re ready to go, and we particularly need to see them getting into the state-based distribution systems in NSW,” he said on Sunday.

“ATAGI has said go and consider [having the AstraZeneca vaccination] and please do it promptly.”

The state’s large clinics offer both AstraZeneca and Pfizer but some smaller ones only offer Pfizer. Under the guidelines as they stood at the weekend, people aged over 40 could get AstraZeneca in the state clinics.

NSW recorded 141 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, and two women have died, including a woman in her late 30s with no pre-existing conditions, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

NSW Health is still considering the best way to incorporate the new ATAGI advice along with the national cabinet decision on Friday to extend the period for second doses of Pfizer from three weeks to six in a bid to get more people with at least one dose. A spokesman said there was likely to be more clarity on Monday.

Ms Berejiklian said with the updated advice from ATAGI, everybody is welcome to come forward and get the AstraZeneca vaccine through their GP, local pharmacy or the NSW Health hubs.

“Whilst our doses of Pfizer are limited, we have sufficient AstraZeneca for people who want to get the vaccine,” she said.

“I urge everybody to come forward and get vaccinated â€" doesn’t matter how old you are â€" but especially those citizens in those five [most affected] local government areas who have to leave the area for work.

She said while vaccination alone wouldn’t stop the virus, it would “definitely, definitely slow the spread”.

Mr Morrison cautioned the only way the lockdown would end was through it being effective and vaccines weren’t an alternative, magic bullet solution.

“It can be assisted by the vaccines, but the lockdown must be effective,” he said.

The Commonwealth has sent an extra 150,000 doses of AstraZeneca and another 150,000 doses of Pfizer to NSW over the past three weeks.

With increased supply of Pfizer arriving, all states are now getting more doses each week than they were at the start of July. In NSW, next week there will be 90,000 more Pfizer jabs available than at the start of the month, and 110,000 extra the following week.

However, a senior federal government source said with the low demand for AstraZeneca, not many of those extra doses had been used yet. State government sources also noted the demand for AstraZeneca was low.

“It’s a powerful vaccine that helped save lives and, as ATAGI has said, people should be strongly considering and doing that together with other vaccines that are there,” Mr Morrison said.

Nationwide, nearly two in five people have had their first shot. Just over 16 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.

Stay across the most crucial developments related to the pandemic with the Coronavirus Update. Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter.

Katina Curtis is a political reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in Canberra.

Share this post