Victorian doctors and nurses could get third Covid vaccine before medical professionals do in NSW

These are the first Victorians who could get a third vaccine to boost their waning immunity — ahead of those in NSW or any other state.

Exclusive: Doctors and nurses on Victoria’s Covid wards could get a third vaccine from next month to boost their waning immunity.

But there is no similar protection being offered to NSW medicos who face their toughest ever months managing a forecast explosion in Covid cases in coming weeks.

The Victorian measure would ensure the already overburdened health workforce is at reduced risk of being further depleted by infected medicos taking time off work as the latest wave of the pandemic gathers pace.

There is emerging international evidence immunity provided by the Pfizer vaccine begins to wane six months after the original two vaccinations and many frontline health workers who had their shots back in March may now face declining vaccine protection.

The Victorian president of the AMA Dr Rodney McRae said the secretary of the state’s Health Department Dr Euan Wallace had signalled he was actively considering providing frontline workers with a third dose as early as next month.

AMA Dr Rodney McRae. Picture: Supplied

“I’ve had ongoing discussions with the department of Health related to that, I’ve had assurances workers will receive a third vaccination dose,” Dr McRae said.

“It’s on the back of the evidence from particularly the northern hemisphere, about waning levels of antibody protection,” he said.

“I’ve raised it over about the last six to eight weeks, and the assurances have increased. It’s almost at the point this will happen,” he said.

“I’m assured that, by the first of October, there’s going to be adequate (vaccine) supply, and that it just becomes a question of programming in the opportunity to vaccinate people, and it can typically be done at the larger hospital workplace sites again,” he said.

By contrast the NSW AMA is not yet asking for extra vaccines for its doctors on the Covid frontline even though modelling is predicting the state’s heath workforce will be under extreme pressure in coming weeks.

There are already 97 patients on ventilators in NSW and between 2,200 to 3,900 people in Covid hot spots are forecast to require hospitalisation during mid-September.

“Indications at this stage are that vaccines are still effective at preventing serious illness and death from Covid,” NSW AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen said.

“Throughout this we’ve been trying to base all of the health advice on science, and trying to make sure that we’ve got an evidence base for doing what we do,” she said.

“If it’s not going to increase benefits, then that’s a dose that takes away from someone else who hasn’t been vaccinated at all,” she said.

AMA NSW president Dr Danielle McMullen Picture: Jonathan Ng

President of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association Dr Tony Sara said the union has had a number of inquiries from members who are vaccinated six or seven months ago.

“They’re saying, you know, the evidence is sketchy, what is the (NSW) ministry going to do?”, he said.

“I think that we need a policy position from ATAGI (the federal government’s expert vaccine committee) as soon as practicable.”

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation federal secretary Annie Butler supports the call for a booster for those workers in those high risk areas, depending on when they’ve had their vaccination.

“We’d be looking to the chief health officers, and ATAGI for their recommendations around best timing for this doses,” she said.

Doherty Institute director Professor Sharon Lewin thinks “the jury’s still out on a third dose, rather than a booster dose”.

Evidence was clear that immunosuppressed people and those over the age of 60 may need an additional Pfizer dose, she said.

“We really don’t know what the longevity of immune response for AstraZeneca is, so we don’t know how long AstraZeneca lasts,” she said.

The US is planning to make booster shots available this month once they are approved by the FDA.

Israel has already begin rolling out booster doses to its population but the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said it sees no urgent need for a third dose.

Pfizer and Moderna are currently developing new Covid vaccines that will protect against the Delta strain of the virus.

A spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Health said the agency had “sought advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation regarding the potential use of COVID-19 booster doses”.

“Victoria’s COVID-19 vaccination program will consider how best to implement ATAGI’s advice once it is avaiable,” the department said.

Originally published as Victorian doctors and nurses could get third Covid vaccine before medical professionals do in NSW