Taking vaccines straight into Covid-19 areas the ‘circuit breaker’ Sydney needs

Delivering vaccines directly to south west Sydney rather than expecting people to reach out to a GP has been endorsed as a ‘circuit breaker’ for the city’s Covid-19 lockdown.

Delivering vaccines directly to south west Sydney rather than expecting people to reach out to a GP has been endorsed as a “circuit breaker” for the city’s Covid-19 lockdown.

As Health Minister Greg Hunt pleads with Australians who have elderly parents to “save mum or dad’s life” by getting them vaccinated, Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said it’s time to further target Covid-19 stricken areas with more mobile and pop-up vaccine options.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly says Sydney needs a ‘circuit breaker’ to get out of lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Two new deputy chief health officers have also been appointed to assist the Commonwealth, including a particular focus on developing an ongoing national contact tracing plan to enable Australia to live with the virus.

While Prof Kelly said a door-to-door vaccination service was a “bit of a stretch” at the moment, making accessing jabs “as easy as possible” was critical.

“That would be part of what I was referring to as a circuit breaker, let’s look at the different ways of doing exactly that,” he said.

“We know vaccination, while it’s not going to stop the outbreak, will certainly help.”

Residents in south west Sydney line up for regular Covid-19 testing in their cars, but Prof Kelly wants the tests to become even easier to access. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

Prof Kelly said the transmission potential of the delta variant in Sydney would decrease “every time … a person gets vaccinated”.

“We need to look at ways that we can make that as accessible as possible, to particularly in those (south west Sydney) areas.”

Prof Kelly will also meet with health experts on Monday to develop clinical guidance for use of a new monoclonal antibody drug Sotrovimab, which Australia has purchased for use treating Covid-19 pending Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval.

“I’m starting a process this week with clinical colleagues to look at clinical guidelines,” he said.

“This medicine is not for everybody, it is an antibody (that) will be mostly aimed at people that are not vaccinated, it will be mostly for people who are at highest risk of severe disease, and it needs to be given early in the treatment.”

In addition to vaccines, Australia is looking for new treatments for people who get Covid-19 but aren’t vaccinated. Picture: Saeed KHAN / AFP

Prof Kelly said he was closely monitoring all global researchers developing treatments for Covid-19.

“The real game changer for this will be, when we have a normal pill like we do for … influenza … to people early in the illness or even indeed to prevent illness,” he said.

“That pill does not exist at the moment in the world.”

Prof Kelly said as soon as medicines are developed and “shown to be useful” in treating Covid-19, health officials would work to make them available in Australia.

“But at the moment we have these (Sotrovimab) antibodies,” he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt is begging people to get their elderly parents vaccinated. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Hunt said the loss of life in NSW due to Covid-19 was “tragic” and it was important to note, no fully vaccinated person had lost their lives during the pandemic in Australia.

“What that message says, in particular on focusing on children with parents over 70 … it can save mum’s life or dad’s life,” he said.

Mr Hunt urged families with a loved one in aged care to consider giving their consent for their relative to be vaccinated.

“We don’t want mum or dad to die in agony,” he said.

“We don’t want them to die alone.”

Mr Hunt also announced the appointment of two additional deputy chief health officers in Australia.

Dr Sonya Bennett has been appointed as a deputy chief medical officer. Picture: Richard Walker

Former Queensland deputy chief health officer Sonya Bennett will oversee a national strategy for contact tracing, while GP Steph Davis will focus on mental health and vaccine modelling.

Dr Davis said even Australia reaches vaccination rates of 70 and 80 per cent, modelling by the Doherty Institute showed an ongoing testing and tracing capacity would be needed to live with the virus.

“We’re still going to need contract tracing, testing surveillance, all of that is going to be going for a while to make sure that we can keep the virus at (manageable) levels,” she said.