- Over six million Australians are now eligible to receive their COVID-19 jab as phase 1b of the Federal Government’s roll-out roadmap begins
- Those eligible for the vaccine now include elderly Australians, general health care workers, younger adults with underlying medical conditions and more
- More than 1000 GP clinics have joined the vaccine program today, having been supplied with the imported AstraZeneca vaccine
- In New South Wales, severe weather and flooding are expected to cause some delays to the roll-out plan as clinics remain inaccessible, though the roll-out will go ahead as planned throughout much of the state
- This latest phase comes just one day after the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the AstraZeneca jab for local production by biotech giant CSL
- The Australian Government has ordered 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca to be produced on its behalf by CSL
- So far, around 200,000 Australians have already been vaccinated against COVID-19
Over six million Australians are now eligible to receive their COVID-19 jab as phase 1b of the Federal Government’s roll-out roadmap begins.
Those eligible for the vaccine now include Australians over 70, general health care workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of 55, younger adults with underlying medical conditions and critical, and high-risk workers like police and firefighters.
More than 1000 GP clinics have joined the vaccination program today to support the next phase of the roll-out.
Clinics have been supplied with the imported AstraZeneca vaccine.
Last week, several European countries halted their own roll-out of the AstraZeneca jab over concerns that the vaccine was linked to blood clots. Nevertheless, an investigation by European Medicines Agency (EMA) found no link.
As such, Italy, France and Germany all announced on Friday they were resuming their vaccination plan, with more European countries to follow today.
New South Wales weather worries
Wild weather and flooding across New South Wales over the weekend have caused concerns that the vaccine roll-out in the state may be hindered because some clinics will not be accessible until the weather eases.
Nevertheless, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said while the weather is likely to cause “some delays” in the NSW vaccine program, it would happen as planned throughout most of the state.
“We’ve had reports from a number of clinics which are not able to be open today to deliver the vaccine or to deliver regular general practice services. We’re still waiting to find out exactly how many are affected,” the minister said.
“The most important thing, of course, is safety. People should make sure that they’re not putting themselves at risk by being on the roads. They should be following, of course, all of the instructions that are in place,” he said.
He added that with six million Australians now set to receive their jab over the next two to three months, this is a “historic” day in the nation’s battle against the coronavirus.
Local production
Today’s next phase of the vaccine roll-out plan comes a day after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved the local manufacture of the AstraZeneca jab by Australian biotech giant CSL.
The imported vaccine manufactured overseas was approved by the TGA in mid-February. Before the vaccine was approved for local production, however, the drug regulator first needed to ensure that any domestically produced jab would have the exact same composition and performance as its international counterpart.
This was confirmed on the weekend.
The Federal Government has bought 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be manufactured by CSL.
The local jabs will be used to inoculate the rest of Australia under the next phases of the government roll-out roadmap.
Next in line to be eligible for their jab are adults between 50 and 69, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people between 18 and 54 and other critical and high-risk workers.
This will be followed by any remaining Australians not already vaccinated under the roll-out program.
So far, over 200,000 Australians have already been vaccinated against COVID-19.