The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia has begun

[jase05]

Greg Hunt has read out a statement from Pfizer saying the reports about Kevin Rudd influencing the distribution is incorrect.

Shocked to be sitting here
Kevvie would never try to pump up his own tyres

 

[mviy]

And others would argue they'd rather not sit in a waiting room with sick people (and it appears from recent exposure listing likley Covid positives), than wait in the open air at mass vax clinic.

Catching public transport to a vaccination hub may not feel very safe but I can walk to my local GP. With the situation in Sydney we should be encouraging people to take whichever vaccine they can get at a location that is convenient for them. For some this will be at their local GP.

 

[moa999]

Agreed. But while supply is limited and Pfizer had more stringent temperature requirements, the centralised centres were best to ensure doses were not wasted.

As we get more supply, and the temp recommendations have altered, we can send more to GPs.

 

[Lynda2475]

Catching public transport

An unintended consequence of the current rules which state you cant get in a car with someone you don't live with, is actually forcing people onto higher risk public transport instead of them being able to get a lift with one other person they know to do their shopping or go to medical appointments or get vaccinated.

I would prefer to get a lift from my fully vaccinated Dad then have to get on a bus or train with the great unwashed.

Post automatically merged: Jul 12, 2021

the centralised centres were best to ensure doses were not wasted.

Still are, from a demand pov, they have decent waiting lists and can call more people in at short notice so there should never be unused open doses at the end of any day.

 

[jase05]

Finally, let’s hope common sense prevails

https://twitter.com/x/status/1414473509208694785

 

[Pushka]

Finally, let’s hope common sense prevails

https://twitter.com/x/status/1414473509208694785

Or maybe it will add to the confusion and just look like expediency to many.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Sunday vaccinations achieved.

 

[mviy]

Finally, let’s hope common sense prevails

Let's hope so. If you're over 18 and have read an appropriate information sheet outlining some of the risks they should let you take it at a GP, pharmac_ or Mass Vaccination Centre if there are supplies available.

Hopefully the changes made have impact nationwide as whilst we'd hope it wouldn't happen it's possible an outbreak similar to NSW could happen elsewhere. Considering with AZ you need at least 8 weeks (6 weeks between doses then another few weeks to start to get a reasonable amount of protection) if we wait for an outbreak to let people take AZ easily it'll take too long for the benefits to flow through for those who haven't yet had a first dose.

Sunday vaccinations achieved.

View attachment 252846

Disappointing that it's so much lower than a weekday. We need to do better.

 

[MooTime]

so their expert medical advice can change if covid cases have a surge somewhere....how does covid cases affect the medical risk of clotting or anything else to ones age?

Now if they change their advice to safe to take as a 40yo or the like, then surely we can stop listening to them.
risk profile, oh c'mon, ho can anybody take this mob seriously.

Crazy IMO.

 

[Lynda2475]

Or maybe it will add to the confusion and just look like expediency to many.

This. Changing advice yet again will backfire.

 

[Pushka]

so their expert medical advice can change if covid cases have a surge somewhere....how does covid cases affect the medical risk of clotting or anything else to ones age?

Now if they change their advice to safe to take as a 40yo or the like, then surely we can stop listening to them.
risk profile, oh c'mon, ho can anybody take this mob seriously.

Crazy IMO.

Their decision making is surely about risk versus benefit and with a potential surge of cases then that ratio changes (ie more chance of catching covid than experience the clotting event). But, many won't hear that message.

 

[mviy]

The Feds wanted ATAGI to have an emergency meeting to reconsider their advice on AZ a few weeks ago.

Perhaps this is the soonest time they've been able to meet and in the meantime the situation has got worse.

Considering the chances of getting COVID have gone up considerably in NSW, the balance of risk between dying from blood clots from the vaccine and dying from COVID has also shifted considerably.

I think we can expect adults to understand that all medicines have risks and that as the risk of getting ill increases the risk v benefit of taking preventative treatment changes.

AZ has played a huge part in the UK learning to live with the virus, and it can still do so here.

I'm under 40, I've had my first dose of AZ and only had mild side effects. Most people will have mild or no side effects.

In my view AZ is probably safer for young men than Pfizer. It's a shame that the media has allowed a whole lot of anti-vax commentary to go relatively unchallenged to make a quick buck from sensationalist headlines.

 

[Lynda2475]

dying from COVID has also shifted considerably

Has it? One death this year in a 90+ whose risk was just as high as last year because they didn't get vaccinated. On what basis do you believe risk of death from Covid increased for under 50s?

 

[mviy]

Has it? One death this year in a 90+ whose risk was just as high as last year because they didn't get vaccinated. On what basis do you believe risk of death from Covid increased for under 50s?

You are selectively quoting and completely ignoring the context. Read the context. If your chances of catching COVID are much higher than all else being equal the chances of a person in the community dying from COVID are higher.

In Sydney your chances of catching COVID are several times higher than they were before the current outbreak, so you are far more likely to catch the virus in Sydney than you were a month or two ago. So even allowing for Delta being less deadly you are far more likely to die from COVID in Sydney than you were a month or two ago.

Chance of dying from COVID = chance of catching COVID multiplied by chance of dying from COVID if you have caught it

 

[jase05]

Has it? One death this year in a 90+ whose risk was just as high as last year because they didn't get vaccinated. On what basis do you believe risk of death from Covid increased for under 50s?

Maybe the 8 in ICU aged under 35 thought the same before. We are still yet to see how many deaths arise from the NSW outbreak, hopefully none

 

[Flying mermaid]

so their expert medical advice can change if covid cases have a surge somewhere....how does covid cases affect the medical risk of clotting or anything else to ones age?

Now if they change their advice to safe to take as a 40yo or the like, then surely we can stop listening to them.
risk profile, oh c'mon, ho can anybody take this mob seriously.

Crazy IMO.

Well they always said it wasn’t absolutes but a balance of risk. No Covid cases in Australia means under 60s had the luxury of waiting for Pfizer. Delta variant rampaging and large numbers of under 60s in hospital changes the risk and makes the infinitesimal small risk of getting a clot worth it.

unfortunately, although ATAGI always said it was a risk balancing exercise, it was reported as an absolute prohibition. It never was and you were always able to make an informed decision to have it. It hasn’t been clear messaging and both ATAGI and the government (both State and Federal) are to blame for that. Not to mention a certain CHO getting hysterical at the thought of an under 40 having AZ.

Post automatically merged: Jul 12, 2021

Maybe the 8 in ICU aged under 35 thought the same before. We are still yet to see how many deaths arise from the NSW outbreak, hopefully none

Hopefully they won’t die but anyone ending up in ICU with Covid has a fairly large chance of having ongoing problems.

 

[mviy]

The fact that most of the vulnerable in aged care homes have been vaccinated now means that we won't expect there to be anything like the number of deaths that there were in VIC last year. Whilst most COVID deaths are in the elderly and those with known co-morbidities, young people can die from it and they can also infect loved ones. If you have an anti-vax elderly relative (I don't) you can help protect them by getting the vaccine reducing the chance that you will catch the virus and also reducing the chance that if you do that you will pass it on.

 

[jb747]

So, AZ becomes safe if we have a covid outbreak...but the entire point of AZ is to stop or reduce covid outbreaks. In aviation terms, it's rather like QF30's oxygen bottle. It was only there in case there was a depressurisation, but there was a depressurisation, and it wasn't there.....

 

[mviy]

So, AZ becomes safe if we have a covid outbreak...but the entire point of AZ is to stop or reduce covid outbreaks. In aviation terms, it's rather like QF30's oxygen bottle. It was only there in case there was a depressurisation, but there was a depressurisation, and it wasn't there.....

In NSW they are recommending people take the second dose from 6 weeks. So if that's a new national recommendation to consider in the case of an outbreak you want as many people as possible to get to at least 6 weeks prior to an outbreak. Once the second dose is taken it takes a few weeks to start to provide a decent level of protection.

The fact is there is not going to be enough Pfizer to get most unvaccinated people their first dose in the next 3 weeks, so there are many who can be fully vaccinated much sooner with AZ than they can be with Pfizer.

If there's not an outbreak where you live and you want to take your second dose of AZ much sooner than the 12 weeks hopefully they will decide to allow you to discuss it with your GP to make an informed choice on what to do.

 

[mviy]

Something else they could consider at some point is in an outbreak to allow people who have taken AZ for the first dose to take say Pfizer for the second, but that only really becomes a viable option once there is plenty of supply to do that without unnecessarily slowing down the roll-out.