45 new cases, vaccine booking website buckles under rush of Pfizer bookings

Health authorities are racing to vaccinate VCE students ahead of their exams, amid a huge rush for the Pfizer vaccine. It comes as the state’s crisis was labelled “an outbreak of young people”.

• This coronavirus article is unlocked and free to read in the interest of community health and safety. Tap here for full digital access to trusted news from the Herald Sun and Leader for just $5 per month for the first three months.

The Covid crisis has been labelled “an outbreak of young people”, with Pfizer bookings now open to young Victorians and VCE students being given vaccine priority.

It comes as the state recorded 45 Covid cases overnight after a bumper day of testing.

Health Minister Martin Foley said 114 of the state’s active cases were aged under nine, 101 aged between 10 and 19, and 89 are in their 20s.

He said that while it was “heartening” that case numbers had reduced, the outbreak risk was still very real.

“It’s our public health officials that tell us there’s a lot of work to do,” Mr Foley said. “We know that numbers bounce around.”

The latest infections include 10 linked to MyCentre childcare in Broadmeadows; 10 household contacts of known cases; nine linked to the Shepparton/Royal Melbourne Hospital outbreak; four linked to Hobsons Bay, two to North Melbourne and one to Glenroy West primary.

Young people are now eligible for the Pfizer vaccine at Victoria’s state-run clinics. Picture: Darrian Traynor

There are also nine mystery cases. Victoria now has 56 mystery cases still under investigation.

Authorities also revealed the state’s latest outbreak is spreading among essential workers, with 28 of the latest cases in the community while infectious.

Health department deputy secretary Kate Matson revealed an alarming detail, saying some cases waited a week before being tested.

“The cases we are seeing are usually permitted workers – healthcare workers, people who work in construction and are out and about,” she said.

“This also reiterates why getting tested with symptoms is always our No.1 message.

“But more specifically, please, get tested as soon as you develop those symptoms. That day, or the next day, if it’s too late in the day to access a testing site.

“Some of the recent cases that I’ve mentioned haven’t been tested for seven or eight days.”

NEW INFLUX OF MEDICS FOR VICTORIA

Roughly 350 highly trained medical professionals from overseas will be brought to Victoria to take up critical roles in our health system over the next few months.

The professionals will be employed in almost 30 public health services across Victoria, including in rural and regional areas, as the state battles with increasing numbers of local staff being furloughed.

About 90 per cent of the health professionals are doctors and the remainder are specialist nurses or midwives.

Some are experienced professionals who will share critical skills, supervision and knowledge while in Australia.

Many are resident hospital medical officers who will meet staffing demands in emergency departments and other critical areas.

Almost all will start by October 2021, a government spokeswoman confirmed.

The spokeswoman said the pandemic had placed “enormous pressure” on all parts of the health system, including the state’s workforce testing and vaccinating workforce.

People queuing at the testing centre in St Kilda on Wednesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“To ensure our health services continue to deliver high quality care, we are recruiting highly trained medical professionals from overseas that will take up critical roles in our health system,” she said.

“Roughly 350 health professionals will take up critical roles in our health system over the next few months, with the first group of arrivals set to work across Melbourne and Bendigo.”

All of the recruited health workers have an occupation identified on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List.

VACCINE BOOKING WEBSITE SWAMPED

The health department’s online vaccination booking service was crushed by high demand as Pfizer bookings opened to the under-40s, leaving people stuck in an online queue to claim an appointment.

The booking system on Wednesday left people unable to schedule appointments over the phone, forcing them to abandon their call and ring back.

Visitors to the booking site were also met with slowed loading times before the landing page timed out.

Photos from outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre vaccination centre on Wednesday morning showed hundreds of people lining up awaiting their Covid jab.

Long queues were also being reported at Royal Exhibition Building hub in Carlton and in St Kilda.

Crowds line up for a Covid vaccine in St Kilda. Picture: David Crosling

Deputy secretary for vaccines Naomi Bromley said 25,000 vaccine bookings had been made by 9am.

There were also 50,000 hits per minute on the Victorian government’s vaccination website on Wednesday morning.

More than 1.3 million calls had been to the hotline as of 11am Wednesday.

“Tens of thousands of Victorians are trying to book in right now,” Ms Bromley said.

“So it is slow. It is busy. Please be patient. Please be kind to our staff.

“But people are getting through and making those bookings, which is really fantastic. There are still plenty of appointments available.

Long queues at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre vaccination centre on Wednesday morning. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“We have had an extraordinary response to the changes to eligibility.”

Health Minister Martin Foley reminded Victorians people aged 16 and 17 are only eligible for Pfizer, while people aged 18 to 59 are eligible for either Pfizer or AstraZeneca.

People aged over 60 are eligible for AstraZeneca.

“We have seen an absolutely extraordinary level of influx of bookings through our state-run clinics this morning,” Mr Foley said.

“We’ve seen the system put under substantial pressure, but at the same time we’ve seen huge numbers of bookings being made.

“What is fantastic to see is so many people … want to be part of the recovery of our way out of this pandemic through the vaccination program.”

Mr Foley refused to “rule anything in or not” when it came to more freedoms for vaccinated Victorians when the state reached 70 per cent coverage.

Almost half a million Victorians aged over 16 are finally able to get a Pfizer jab after state-run clinics released more than 830,000 new first-dose appointments — including 450,000 Pfizer shots — at 7am.

It means anyone aged between 16 and 39, who is not part of a priority group, will be given their first shot at securing a Pfizer vaccine.

Eligible young Victorians who booked their vaccine appointment on Wednesday or earlier would be offered both Pfizer and AstraZeneca when they arrive at their appointment.

But from Thursday onwards, Victoria needed to book the specific vaccine they want to receive.

Read our full Q&A on the changes here.

919 NEW CASES IN NSW

NSW has announced another grim record, with 919 new infections overnight.

Two more Covid patients have died, including a woman in her 30s.

Only 106 of those were confirmed to be in isolation for their entire infectious period.

About 125,000 tests were taken in the community on Tuesday.

Mr Foley flagged tougher border closures with NSW, saying Victoria’s biggest threat was importing the virus again from its northern neighbour.

“This is where is came from in the last couple of incursions. We cannot send it back, I wish we could, but what we can do is take all of the measures that the public health team recommended to us to keep that border protection as strong as possible,” he said.

“Given the deteriorating position in NSW, I don’t think we can rule out further measures being taken.”

Victoria’s border with NSW has been closed completely since July 20, and border bubble residents can only cross the Murray with a permit for five permitted reasons.

JAB PRIORITY FOR VCE STUDENTS

Deputy Premier James Merlino announced all final year students would be given priority to get vaccinated before sitting their exams, which begin on October 4.

Speaking in his capacity as Education Minister, he said he wanted to give final- year students the confidence they deserved for their last few months of school.

“The priority for us is to make sure that all final-year students have received their vaccination before they start sitting their exams on October 4,” Mr Merlino said.

“We do have a priority to make sure that all year 12 students are vaccinated by the time we start exams.”

Mr Merlino said the quickest path to reach 70 per cent vaccination rates was to expand eligibility.

He said the state government would be asking the commonwealth for extra supply.

A young Victorian gets the Pfizer vaccine at the Royal Exhibition Building on Wednesday. Picture: Darrian Traynor

“We want our year 12s vaccinated, we want students aged over 12 to have at least one dose, but that is going to be subject to supply,” he said.

“We need that supply. As soon as we get it, we will be putting it into arms.

“This is about sending a very strong message to year 12 students, particularly in their final months, giving them confidence and clarity that they can, you know, really tackle their last few months of study and give it their best shot.”

Despite the vaccine announcement, Mr Merlino said he still couldn’t provide a definitive answer as to when schools would reopen.

“It is always, and has to be, subjected to public health advice,” he said. “I want kids back at schools as soon as possible.”

Mr Merlino also confirmed there would be no penalties for students that choose to not get vaccinated.

Long queues at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

SINGLE-DIGIT CASES MAY NOT BE NEEDED

Victoria’s lockdown could be lifted with double-digit daily cases if authorities believe contact tracers have “got their arms around” the outbreak.

Fears are mounting the state could face strict restrictions until 70 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated – the target agreed by national cabinet as the trigger to end to broad shutdowns.

But while Victoria’s lockdown is not expected to end on schedule by September 2, authorities still hope they can control the latest outbreak, and daily cases may not need to be in single digits for that to happen.

A Health Department source said: “It will be more about how many mystery cases are there? Do the contact tracers believe they have their arms around it?”

New South Wales will soon unveil the restrictions it will ease for fully vaccinated residents next month, having ­already delivered first doses to more than 60 per cent of eligible adults.

According to Doherty Institute modelling, if an outbreak started when 60 per cent of the population was fully vaccinated and there were minimal ­restrictions, deaths across Australia throughout a six-month period could still be limited to 30 – provided testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine measures were working at an optimal level.

But as many as 3591 lives would be lost – about 20 a day – if the public health response faltered.

In that scenario, the institute’s modelling – which underpins the national cabinet’s plan – forecast more than 100,000 cases a month, leading to more than 1000 deaths among fully vaccinated people, likely those who were elderly or were suffering other medical conditions.

If Victoria maintains its present rate of vaccination, 60 per cent of over-16s will be fully immunised by October 13, 70 per cent by October 30 and 80 per cent by November 16.

Daniel Andrews would not comment on the NSW plan to begin easing restrictions, but said he was confident Victoria would “have options that Sydney won’t have” in coming weeks.

Premier Daniel Andrews says the state’s settings are being ‘constantly reviewed’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“We’ve got a chance of having some options and some choices to make between now and 70 per cent,” the Premier said.

“That’s what we’re working towards.”

Doherty director Professor Sharon Lewin said: “As you get higher levels of vaccination, then the strain … on the public health system reduces, because vaccination not only reduces hospitalisation and deaths, it also reduces transmission”.

The institute said testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine measures were working in NSW and Victoria to reduce the spread of the virus, and that “these measures will become more effective with more people vaccinated”.

University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely argued this week ­Victoria could switch to a looser lockdown – enabling some ­industries to restart and people to spend more time outside – to control numbers before the vaccination thresholds were met.

The Herald Sun understands the federal government will not push the states to ease restrictions before that point.

But while Mr Andrews dodged questions about Prof Blakely’s suggestions on Monday, he said on Tuesday the state’s settings were “constantly reviewed”, based on the number of mystery cases and cases not in isolation.

Scott Morrison said the lower death rate during the current NSW outbreak compared to Victoria’s second wave last year showed “you can live with this virus when you reach those levels of vaccination”.

“At 70 and 80 per cent you can reopen safely,” the Prime Minister said.

Further work from the institute is expected to be presented to national cabinet this Friday.

QLD PAUSES INTERSTATE RELOCATIONS

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a two-week pause on relocations to Queensland as the state’s quarantine hotels reached capacity.

It comes as the state records no new Covid cases and two truck drivers who tested positive on Tuesday being classified as false positives.

Starting from 12pm Wednesday, Queensland is pausing allowing people to relocate for two weeks.

The pause will not affect people accessing medical treatment or other special circumstances including bereavement.

The Premier said Queensland had been overwhelmed by new arrivals from interstate hot spots Victoria, NSW and the ACT.

“While we have allowed genuine relocations for work and other purposes, it has overwhelmed our hotels and it has to be stopped for at least the next fortnight,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

A woman crosses a deserted Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne’s CBD. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

CITY LINKED TO SHEPP OUTBREAK

Genomic sequencing has strongly linked the worsening Shepparton outbreak to a previous cluster in Glenroy.

When asked about the worsening outbreak in the Goulburn Valley city, which is facing a mass shortage of staff, Mr Foley said the government was looking at a number of measures to provide support.

The minister said a “substantial” number of healthcare staff would be deployed to Shepparton to assist Goulburn Valley health, in response to a significant number of local staff being furloughed after being identified as close contacts, or having visited an exposure site.

Mr Foley said as of Tuesday night, there were no confirmed cases within Shepparton’s Indigenous population.

Despite authorities revealing case numbers would rise in coming days, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was “absolutely doable” for Victoria to get to zero or limited cases.

Seven of the new cases are linked to the Shepparton outbreak, while a further four are linked to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where 450 staff have been furloughed.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said the hospital cluster had been epidemiologically linked to Shepparton, with genomic sequencing also revealing a link between the regional hub and Glenroy.

Mr Weimar said that link had given contact tracers a good steer on finding an acquisition source.

The Shepparton outbreak has been linked back to Melbourne. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

MORE RENT RELIEF FOR BUSINESSES

More Victorian businesses will now be eligible for rent relief under changes that allow tenants to choose which period of time they are reporting their losses from coronavirus restrictions.

Under the original design of for Commercial Tenant Rent Relief scheme, businesses had to prove they had lost significant revenue by comparing the final quarter of the 2020/21 financial year to the final quarter of 2018/19.

But new flexible laws will allow tenants to choose any three consecutive months between April 1 and September 30 this year.

These would then be measured against their income for the same period in 2019.

Under the scheme, signed off by the Victorian governor on Tuesday, rent relief will kick in for struggling businesses who have lost more than 30 per cent of their trade.

The discount will depend on how much money they have missed out on, with a tenant who has lost 50 per cent turnover able to negotiate for half their rent to be reduced.

Out of the money discounted, half must be waived while the rest can be deferred.

Landlords and tenants are encouraged to negotiate agreements between themselves but the Victorian Small Business Commission is available assist with mediation.

Any new businesses that have open since April 19, 2019 are eligible.

“We know businesses are doing it tough – that’s why it’s important that we continue to back them with practical measures, including rent relief,” Small Business Minister Jaala Pulford said.

“We want everyone to get a fair outcome – the VSBC will provide free support to businesses to help them negotiate an agreement with landlords, if they’re unable to reach agreement themselves.”

The new rent relief program applies from when it was announced, July 28, and will continue until January 15, 2022.

Landlords who provide discounts can apply for land tax relief up to 25 per cent and smaller landlords who are struggling can apply for hardship payments from a $20m fund.

Australian Hotels Association president David Canny welcomed the government’s scheme.

He said business support, payments for staff and rent were the three biggest issues keeping his members awake at night.

“This is a lifeline for many operators who operator under a leasehold,” he said.

“There are other costs (of business) while you close but rent is a massive.

“On the early reading of those regulations, the government have listened … A lot of operators will sleep a bit easier tonight with that detail.”