Covid NSW updates: Unvaccinated man in 30s among seven deaths

A man aged in his 30s who wasn’t vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions has died of Covid in NSW.

A man aged in his 30s who had no underlying health conditions and wasn’t vaccinated against Covid is among seven new deaths from the virus in NSW.

The man from Sydney’s southwest died at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Three people in their 80s, a person in their 90s, one in their 70s and one person in their 60s also died as the state reported 187 new Covid cases on Monday.

Of the new cases, 40 were detected in the Hunter New England Local Health District while 32 were from Sydney’s south west.

Across NSW, 89.8 per cent of the population aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated while 93.9 per cent have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Children aged five to 11 are unlikely to get a Covid-19 vaccine before the end of the school year, with the summer holidays looming as a nightmare for families as unvaccinated kids are subjected to longer quarantine. 

Professor Allen Cheng, who is co-chair of the panel which will consider whether young children should receive Pfizer’s vaccine, says the group is still weeks away from a decision.

He told The Daily Telegraph: “I wouldn’t expect that we’ll be vaccinating kids before the end of the school year, and maybe not even until early next year.”

It can be revealed the NSW government, however, is scrambling to set up infrastructure for children to be vaccinated in classrooms in order to speed up the rollout once it is approved. 

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says the government is hoping to make schools vaccination sites. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

The US is now vaccinating 5-11 year olds with a third of the adult Pfizer dose, after its Food and Drug Administration last week granted emergency approval. Pfizer has begun its application for Therapeutic Goods Administration approval. But Prof Cheng said the regulator needed time to assess its quality, effectiveness and side effects.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) would then make recommendations.

But other Commonwealth officials have been more optimistic about the timeline for child vaccinations, with Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Sonya Bennett saying on Sunday she anticipated a decision this year. 

“I don’t think it will be months away at all, the decision,” she said. 

“The program might be a while off, but I think we’ll have a decision I would think this year. But I can’t pre-empt. It is a TGA decision.”

Dr Bennett said the TGA was “currently” looking at Pfizer’s application.

Government sources also indicated they expected a TGA decision within the month, and Health Minister Greg Hunt has repeatedly stated supply would be immediately available.

In that event, NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said children under 12 could get their Covid vaccine on school grounds.

“We are in discussions with Health about making school sites available for vaccination clinics. This is something I very much support,” she said.

“I want to make it as easy as possible for families to get their children vaccinated.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt says he expects instant availability of kids’ vaccines once approved. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

But if the vaccine approval is slower, families would have to contend with the state’s two-week quarantine requirement for unvaccinated close contacts, including children not eligible for a jab, during the summer holidays. 

NSW recently introduced changes allowing families to designate one parent as a “primary carer” for a child identified as a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case.

Though this has eased the burden on the remainder of the family, who if vaccinated can go about their day, the length of quarantine would remain 14 days for a child aged 11 or under. However the length of quarantine would be halved to just seven days if the child was vaccinated, meaning younger kids could be stuck in isolation while their siblings are not.