Covid updates: Seven more AZ vaccine blood clots in Australia; 300,000 more vaccines going to NSW
A 61-year-old Australian woman is dead after developing blood clots following the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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A third Australian who developed blood clots has died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed the woman was 61 from Western Australia.
She had received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The TGA is closely monitoring reports of ITP (immune thrombocytopenia) in light of a case in a 61-year-old woman from Western Australia who developed severe ITP after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. Sadly the woman died and we extend our sincerest condolences to her family and loved ones,” the TGA said in a statement.
It comes as a total of seven Australians developed rare blood clots after receiving AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 bringing the total case load to 76.
The rare side effect which has landed 22 people in hospital intensive care units is the reason experts have advised those aged under 60 should get the Pfizer jab.
More than five million Australians have received the AstraZeneca shot and the latest tally suggests the risk of getting the clots is around one in every 65,000 people given the jab.
The risk of death is even lower at one in every 2.5 million people given the shot.
The nation’s medicines watchdog the TGA released the latest figures Thursday afternoon.
They include three confirmed new cases in a 59-year-old woman and a 59-year-old man from Victoria and a 72-year-old woman from South Australia.
The four probable new cases include 60 and 68-year-old women and a 71-year-old man from NSW and an 82-year-old woman from Western Australia.
Twenty two people with the condition have ended up in ICU including six who are currently in ICU.
Fifty two people have been discharged from hospital, 22 remain in hospital and two people died.
The blood clots are more likely to appear in women: 40 women developed the clots compared to 36 men.
Six clots occurred in those aged 0-49, 22 were in the 50-59 age group, 15 were in the 60-69 age group, 21 were in the 70-79 age group, 11 were among those aged over 80.
TTS is short for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome it happens when small blood cells called platelets that help the blood clot fall below normal levels, a condition called thrombocytopenia.
Although this condition usually reduces the blood’s ability to clot, it can sometimes cause clots to occur when they shouldn’t.
The head of the TGA Professor John Skerritt said it’s thought the condition is brought on by a wayward immune response to AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Fewer than half of the cases reported to TGA are classified as Tier 1 cases which tend to have more serious outcomes.
These more serious cases involve clots in an unusual location, such as the brain or abdomen.
People should seek immediate medical attention if they develop any of the following symptoms after vaccination:
- severe or persistent headache or blurred vision
- shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or persistent abdominal pain
- unusual skin bruising and/or pinpoint round spots beyond the site of vaccination.
The most common time period for onset of TTS symptoms is four to 30 days after vaccination.
The TGA has also reported 38 cases of suspected myocarditis or pericarditis in people who received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart and pericarditis is an inflammation of the membrane around the heart.
There have been 13 reports in men and 25 in women.
Of the men, five were aged 17–23 years, while the others were aged 41–72 years. The women were aged 22–65 years old with the most aged in their 20s and 30s.
At the time of reporting, the majority of individuals had recovered or were recovering, the TGA said.
300,000 MORE JABS TO NSW
Scott Morrison has said 300,000 more vaccines are coming for NSW after Gladys Berejiklian called on people to stay at home as 38 new Covid cases emerged.
The Prime Minister said the National Security Committee of Cabinet has met and the new delivery of vaccines next week will be equal amounts of Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
Mr Morrison said these vaccines will focus on vulnerable residents, and those in southwest Sydney.
The Prime Minister said this will not affected the allocation of doses for other states and territories.
“Compliance with the orders put in place by the NSW government couldn’t be more critical,” he said.
“We are having issues with casual contact between households. Birthdays, family gatherings, these things are just not OK … at the moment.
“Whether it’s a party of footballers or just a simple family gathering, it can both have the same consequences.”
Mr Morrison has also said he wants people to get their second dose of AstraZeneca sooner rather than later.
The second shot is to be administered between 8-12 weeks after the first.
Mr Morrison said he wants people to get it closer to the eight-week mark.
He also announced the $10,000 liquid assets test currently applied to $325 and $500 payments will be waived for people heading into a third week of lockdown.
He defended Australia’s ability to open up to the world, saying countries like the UK used AstraZeneca that wasn’t slowed by strict ATAGI advice, and places like the US can manufacture Pfizer/Moderna.
““We are catching up considerably. If we can keep that pace up and the supply lines hold, then every Australian that wishes to have a vaccine by the end of the year … that will be possible,” he said.
Out of the 38 new positive cases in NSW, 18 had been in isolation the entire time they were infectious, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Another 11 had been in the community while infectious.
“Those numbers are too high,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We need to get those numbers down.”
Ms Berejiklian said much of the spread had occurred between family members.
“The saddest message out of all of that is that people with the virus are passing it on to those they love the most,” she said.
“We are seeing the greatest number of people get the virus in the last few days being household contacts.”
Ms Berejiklian said she was in contact with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and said federal support would be coming in the near future.
“What is apparent is that – and this has been demonstrated by every other place in the world, and we can’t pretend we’re different … is that you can’t live with the Delta variant unless you have a certain proportion of the population vaccinated,” she said.
“That’s the bottom line.
If we could have done that, NSW would have found a way and in previous outbreaks that we have had, we have managed not to go into lockdown because we have had the resources, the capacity and the transmissibility rates to deal with it, but this new variant is a game-changer, and there isn’t anywhere on the planet that has managed to live with this variant, the Delta virus without having a proportion of the population vaccinated, and that is why it is so important for us to make sure that people follow the health advice that we have been given on a daily basis.”
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has urged families to consider getting tested for Covid-19 at once if one person is showing even mild symptoms.
QLD RECORDS TWO NEW CASES
Annastacia Palaszczuk said the two new infections were detected in home quarantine, and were linked to one of the women from Carindale.
The pair went into quarantine on July 2 when they tested negative, but a further test detected the infection on Wednesday.
Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the pair had “no public exposure sites”.
“There is no risk there at all. And this is what we always want to see as a cluster evolves,” Dr Young said.
Brisbane is still grappling with a number of clusters with about 10,000 contacts being monitored by health authorities.
The city’s lockdown was lifted on Saturday evening but the mandatory wearing of masks will remain in place until Friday, July 16.
PFIZER LOOPHOLE TO GET JABS TO YOUNG AUSSIES
Young Australians who are not yet eligible for the Covid vaccine are using glitches in the booking system to jump the queue, it has been revealed.
They are accessing the Pfizer jac in “large numbers”, sparking concern health officials are failing to ensure priority for vulnerable people, according to The Australian.
A NSW government link has been widely circulating among Sydney residents allowing young people to book in and receive Pfizer even though the vaccine has only been rolled out to people 40 and over.
The link requests applications to create an account, providing their name, personal details, address and Medicare number.
Younger applicants can book into the 16-49 age bracket without claiming to be in a priority group, such as those with an underlying medical condition or living with a frontline health worker. Some are fronting up to get the vaccine just weeks after booking.
The Australian understands a number of applicants have successfully booked and received the Pfizer jab at several local health district clinics including in Sydney’s St Vincent’s, Randwick Campus CoVax Clinic and Liverpool.
The revelation came after more than 160 Year 12 students at St Joseph’s College received the Pfizer vaccine in breach of the rules.
COVID SCARE AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
The Sydney Opera House is on high alert after a subcontractor worked at the iconic building for six days while potentially infectious with Covid-19.
The site was being deep cleaned on Wednesday morning and has been closed since June 26, in line with the citywide lockdown.
A spokeswoman for the Sydney Opera House said it was informed by the health department that the subcontractor who worked between July 1 and 6 had returned a positive swab.
“NSW Health is currently undertaking its investigations, and the Opera House is taking all necessary steps in line with its Covid Safety Plan,” the spokeswoman said.
“In line with the current stay-at-home orders, the building has been closed to the public since Saturday June 26.”
It is unclear whether they were infectious for the entire six-day period.
NSW Police said there were no Covid-related breaches associated with the Opera House.
It is believed workers were classed as essential and were allowed on site to set up for a new and upcoming performance.
MELBOURNE RESTRICTIONS TO BE EASED
Masks will no longer be required in offices, footy crowds will be boosted and dancefloors will make a return in a significant easing of Melbourne’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Health Minister Martin Foley announced the changes on Wednesday, which mean metropolitan Melbourne will now have the same virus setting as regional Victoria.
It came as the state recorded zero locally-acquired cases.
Mr Foley said the loosened restrictions, which will come into effect from 11.59pm on Thursday, meant face masks would no longer be required at offices, and school students and staff would also not have to wear them.
“Masks will still be required if your role sees you interacting with the general public, for example, if you serve customers in a retail setting,” Mr Foley said.
Outdoor stadiums will be increased to 75 per cent capacity, with a cap of 40,000 people. Indoor stadiums can open to 75 per cent of their capacity, up to a 7500 person cap.
“Theatres will also be able to open to 75% of their capacity, up to a cap of 2,000 people,” he said.
‘WORLD’S MOST TRANSMISSIBLE VARIANT’ IN AUSTRALIA
The world’s most transmissible Covid-19 strain has been detected in Australia.
The Lambda variant was detected in an overseas traveller who had been in NSW hotel quarantine in April, according to national genomics database AusTrakka.
Early research shows it had not spread among the community in Australia.
The Lambda strain has left scientists puzzled after it spread to nearly 30 countries in the last four weeks.
The mutation was originally found in Peru and is related to 81 per cent of the country’s cases since April.
Cayetano Heredia University Professor Pablo Tsukayama said the strain has exploded in Peru, with the new variant currently making up 82 per cent of cases in the South American country.
In virus-ravaged Peru, nearly 10 per cent of those recorded as being infected end up dying, with a death rate of nearly 600 for every 100,000 citizens, data shows.
“That would suggest its rate of transmission is higher than any other variant,” he said.
ELITE PRIVATE SCHOOL GETS PFIZER JABS
Students from an elite Sydney private school were given access to the Pfizer vaccine while doses remain limited for frontline workers.
About 160 students from St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill received their first dose of the vaccine in May, The Daily Telegraph reports.
This was despite the national rollout only allowing for people aged 40 and above to get the Pfizer vaccine.
School officials had approached NSW Health with an inquiry about the possibility of obtaining inoculations.
In a statement, the school said those inquiries were made because it houses a number of boarders from rural, remote and indigenous communities.
“The approval and administration of the vaccine was endorsed and managed by NSW Health through the Sydney Local Health District,” said the statement, signed by school principal Ross Tarlinton.
– with Ellen Ransley, Heath Parkes-Hupton, Hannah Moore, Amanda Sheppeard, David Aidone
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