Oxford Astra Zeneca jab lawsuit as new Vic Covid strain HK. 3 rises: See how strains have changed

Victorian Covid hospitalisations have soared over the past week to a shocking daily average of 321, as a new strain takes hold. See what variants are now rising in the state here.

Victorian Covid hospitalisations have soared over the past week to a daily average of 321 — the highest number since early June.

Tragically 122 Victorians have also died from the virus in the most recent 28-day reporting period.

It comes after increased Covid levels were detected in Victorian wastewater during October, suggesting a higher prevalence of Covid infections circulating in the community.

In its latest report — released on Friday morning — the Victorian Department of Health said a mix of Omicron recombinant XBB sublineages were continuing to dominate in Victoria, with EG.5 and one of its sublineages, HK. 3, rising rapidly throughout the state.

“HK. 3 has increased in abundance in recent weeks and is being closely monitored, while EG.5 has been detected at high levels since July,” the department reported.

“Globally, EG.5 is the most prevalent variant of interest. The WHO (World Health Organisation) has evaluated the public health risk of EG.5 as low, aligning with other circulating variants of interest such as XBB. 1.16, with no reported changes in disease severity to date.

“BA. 2.86 has been detected in Victorian wastewater at low levels. It is classified as a WHO variant under monitoring due to high divergence from other BA. 2s. There are a number of closely related sublineages circulating in Victoria.”

The new Omicron sub-variant HK. 3 was detected in Thailand for the first time in late August.

In late October international health experts said HK. 3 had “unique mutations”.

Lawsuit over AstraZeneca jab

The architect of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid jab — now at the centre of a landmark legal case amid claims it was “defective” and its efficacy overstated — told a Melbourne vaccine forum in September it had been a challenge “working out the fastest way” it could be rolled out.

It comes as Victorian Covid hospitalisations have soared over the past week, to a daily average of 321, and deaths rise.

A new Covid strain called HK. 3, detected in Thailand in late September, is now taking hold across the state.

Oxford Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, who led development of the first vaccine, told a Doherty Institute briefing this year her Oxford AstraZeneca jab had “expanded into other countries very quickly”.

And scientists were now working out how they could go even faster in the development of new vaccines and therapeutics, ahead of the next pandemic, she said.

“Starting the phase one (of the Oxford vaccine) it was a question of doing what the team knew how to do, and working out the fastest way we could do it. What had to be done before the next thing could be done (and) looking many steps ahead, and just getting everything off the ground as quickly as possible,” the professor, who received a standing ovation at Wimbledon, said.

Professor Sarah Gilbert spoke recently at Melbourne’s Doherty Institute. Picture: Supplied

Dame Sarah Gilbert, who led the team responsible for developing Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, gets standing ovation at Wimbledon. Picture: BBC

The Oxford team of scientists had formed a partnership with AstraZeneca that was negotiated in the early months of 2020, she revealed.

“It took our vaccine technology, they understood how to make it, they then transferred it to 25 different manufacturing sites worldwide, one in (Melbourne) Australia — CSL — and got all of these manufacturing sites up and running and making essentially the same product … they really were a great partner to work with in this crisis situation where we had to get things moving really quickly,” she said.

CSL’s Parkville Melbourne plant swung into action, bottling the vaccine, in February 2021 and worked around the clock to deliver two million doses in record time.

The UK High Court case alleges the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid jab administered across the globe was “defective”, and claims made about the rapidly-produced vaccine were “vastly overstated”.

Staff at CSL in Melbourne worked around the clock manufacturing the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Picture: Getty

The UK pharmaceutical giant is now being sued in a test case by Jamie Scott, a father-of-two who suffered a significant permanent brain injury that has left him unable to work as a result of a blood clot after receiving the jab in April 2021.

A second claim is being brought by the widower and two young children of 35-year-old Alpa Tailor, who it’s alleged died after having the jab, the UK Telegraph has reported.

The legal action could lead to as many as 80 damages claims totalling A$153 million over Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (VITT), a condition identified after the worldwide vaccine rollout.

Independent studies claimed the vaccine saved over six million lives globally in its first year, but concerns over rare side effects led to its discontinuation in Australia and the UK.

In 2022, the World Health Organisation declared the vaccine was “safe and effective for all individuals aged 18 and above” and that adverse events were “very rare”.

The AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, sold under the brand name Vaxzevria, has not been available to the Australian public since March 20, 2023.

The High Court documents state: “The Claimant claims damages and interest … as a result of personal injuries and consequential losses arising out of his sustaining Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia (VITT) as a result of his vaccination on 23 April 2021, with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]) manufactured and/or supplied by the Defendant which was defective within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.”

The Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is now at the centre of a landmark legal case. Picture: AFP

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) provisionally approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in Australia for people aged 18 years and over as a primary course from February 15, 2021 and as a booster from February 8, 2022.

At the time, the TGA said the decision to receive a Vaxzevria booster must be made in consultation with a health professional and that mRNA Covid vaccines (such as Pfizer and Moderna’s) were “preferred” boosters.

Months later, however, medical experts started to recommend against Australians under 60 taking the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns over a potentially-fatal blood clotting disorder: Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

Originally published as Oxford Astra Zeneca jab lawsuit as new Vic Covid strain HK. 3 rises: See how strains have changed