Rolling coverage: Victoria’s restrictions wound back

More than 120 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been thrown out because of a storage error at a Melbourne aged care centre.

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A federal Department of Health spokesman has confirmed that 25 Pfizer vials containing up to 150 doses have been thrown out after a storage error at an aged care facility.

The extra vials had been delivered to St Vincent’s Care Services in Werribee on Wednesday, where aged care residents were vaccinated by Aspen Medical staff.

“While refrigeration was maintained it was not possible to verify that temperature was maintained throughout,” the spokesman said.

“Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, a medical decision was made not to use the remaining vials.”

“This represents 0.15 per cent of week one doses distributed and the loss rate has been far lower than expected and assumed which is a tribute to all involved.”

The Pfizer vaccine must be stored between 2-8C for up to five days.

The statement thanked an Aspen worker who had “responded resourcefully and took action to ensure both use of the vaccines and protection of the integrity of the unused vials”.

A senior source familiar with the vaccine schedule in several states said they were concerned DHL Supply Chain did not have enough ­“capacity” to deliver the Pfizer jabs from hubs into aged care.

“There have been deliveries of vaccine dropped at the door of a facility with no one to sign them over to,” the source said.

RESTRICTIONS EASE FURTHER

Masks are off in all but high risk settings and more people will return to work as restrictions are eased.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced that from 11.59pm Friday settings would return to what was in place at the start of summer.

Masks will only have to be worn in supermarkets, on public transport and other large retail settings.

Up to 100 people can gather outside and 30 people at your home.

And for the first time, offices will be allowed to have 75 per cent capacity.

Limits to visitors to pubs, restaurants and cafes and aged care homes will also be removed.

But individual hospitals may still have limits for certain sections.

There will be no changes to wearing masks at school

“It’s with confidence we can return to those COVID safe summer settings. None of it is possible without the extraordinary efforts from every Victorian,” Mr Andrews said.

Premier Daniel Andrews has eased COVID rules. Picture: NCA NewsWire

He said Victoria was not behind schedule on the vaccine rollout.

“We are going along as we thought. We are on track to meet the obligations we have.”

But he said the new restrictions won’t necessarily remain in place until the majority of Victorians are vaccinated.

The easing of restrictions come as Victoria has records two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

The Department of Health announced on Friday morning the cases were primary close contacts of pre-existing cases and have been quarantining during their infectious period.

The two new cases returned a positive test late into their 14-day isolation period.

But because they had been isolating the government has not named any new public exposure sites.

“They have been actually in hotel iso, because of their household circumstances, they had sought to isolate away from other family members, as many people have done. So they pose no risk to public health more broadly,” Mr Andrews.

It takes the number of active cases in Victoria to 17 and follows 16,594 tests in the past day.

On Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria’s week-long streak of days without local infections was a positive sign for a significant easing of restrictions.

When another close contact of the Holiday Inn cluster tested positive to the coronavirus last week, Mr Andrews said pushing back the announcement was not needed because the person was already in isolation.

Two people were given an overdose of the vaccine in Queensland.

TRINITY COLLEGE STUDENTS MUST PLEDGE TO GET JAB

Melbourne University’s Trinity College will require students “sign a commitment to be vaccinated”.

The residential college, which charges annual fees of $32,000, said its policy was necessary to ensure students’ health and safety.

However, the college said it would not be compulsory for staff to get the coronavirus jab.

The college’s chief executive officer Professor Ken Hinchcliff said in a statement: “Trinity College is not mandating vaccination against COVID-19 for staff, however the situation is different for Residential College students, who we require to sign a commitment to be vaccinated, should the College — acting on the best medical, scientific and legal advice – decide that this is necessary to ensure their health and safety.”

The statement said the priority was the safety and wellbeing of the Trinity College community.

During last year’s lockdown, 24 Trinity students were kicked out of the college for a semester for holding an “unauthorised gathering”.

— Josh Fagan

HEALTH BOSS GOES AS VAX ERRORS CONTINUE

The head of the company whose doctor overdosed two nursing home residents while administering the COVID-19 vaccine was stood down.

Healthcare Australia chief Jason Cartwright was removed from his position after it was revealed the company failed to check the credentials of the doctor before misleading the federal government, having initially told it he had completed the course.

Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd, who launched an investigation into how the two aged-care residents received too much vaccine, said neither had suffered adverse reactions.

As part of the probe, Prof Kidd found the doctor was the only trained medical professional at the Queensland nursing home on Tuesday when the incident occurred.

“The doctor concerned made a serious mistake,” he said. “Healthcare Australia, HCA, is clearly at fault here.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the company had the “book thrown at it” by Department of Health Secretary Brendan Murphy and would lose its contract if it made ­another mistake.

The bungle also caused a slight delay in the vaccine rollout across NSW and Queensland. But Mr Hunt said he expected the schedule to be back on track within six weeks.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the company had the “book thrown at it” by Department of Health

More than 800 COVID-19 vaccination doses were administered in Victoria on Wednesday, taking the total to 2063.

Daniel Andrews on Thursday stood by Healthcare Australia’s role in Victoria’s hotel quarantine system.

He said there was no direct link between the Queensland vaccine bungle and the state.

“It has got nothing to do with programs run in Victoria, it happened in Queensland,” Mr Andrews said.

NEW $29m TECH TO COMBAT COVID-19

New technology that can be “immediately applied to managing COVID-19” will be developed in Australia as part of a $100m outlay from the federal government.

Three projects have been selected via the government’s Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative, which it said allowed researchers to “explore the most bold and exciting” ideas in medicine.

An Australian Lung Health Initiative has been granted $29m to focus on what the government termed “revolutionary” lung scanners, which could be “immediately applied to managing COVID-19”.
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