Premier Daniel Andrews urges Victorians to consult GPs for AstraZeneca advice
Warning notices have been handed to more than a dozen people trying to enter Victoria without a proper permit.
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Warning notices have been handed to more than a dozen people trying to enter Victoria without a proper permit.
Covid-19 Response Commander Jeroen Weimar said more than 2000 people were stopped and checked on the NSW-Victoria border on Wednesday.
Of those, 17 people were issued with warning notices.
“It’s very important that we ensure that people are carrying the right documentation and returning, under the right principles, and they know what they need to do,” he said.
Of 130 checks of Victorians subject to stay-at-home isolation orders, two cases were referred for further action.
Mr Weimar said authorities were comfortable with compliance levels across a range of Covid-19 measures including businesses using QR code check in systems.
Darwin and Alice Springs, southeast Queensland and Townsville including Magnetic Island and Palm Island, Greater Sydney, Shellharbour, Central Coast, Wollongong, and Perth and Peel regions are now red zones under Victoria’s travel permit system.
VICTORIANS URGED TO IGNORE JAB ADVICE FROM POLITICIANS
Premier Daniel Andrews has urged Victorians to ignore advice from politicians when it comes to the Covid vaccine.
It comes after doctors urged politicians to stay out of the Covid vaccination program and warning medical chiefs that they are “not gods” in a bid to prevent mixed messaging on AstraZeneca wrecking the rollout.
“If you’re in the age group that’s been announced by the commonwealth that’s in the part of the expansion, don’t take medical advice from members of parliament. Take advice from your GP … talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist,” Mr Andrews said.
“They’re the people to talk to. Whether it’s ATAGI or others, there can be very broad statements made. Safety’s always a concern, they are risk-averse — they need to be.
“But everyone’s individual circumstances are different and many people come to this question of, should I, shouldn’t I, with what vaccine, with pre-existing conditions, with all sorts of other issues.
“The best thing to do is not to get your epidemiological advice or your vaccine advice from politicians. Talk to your GP.”
Mr Andrews said people who had received their first AstraZeneca jab and did not experience clotting problems were safe and should get the second jab.
“That’s in everybody’s interests,” he added.
Mr Andrews moved to clarify that AstraZeneca for people under 40 was only available from GPs, and eventually pharmacists.
“That’s a commonwealth program … Mass vaccination sites are not offering AstraZeneca for people that young,” he said on Thursday.
“We may, and if and when we get to that point, then we’ll be sure to tell people.”
Meanwhile, Victoria did not record a new Covid case overnight, with more than 29,000 tests received.
Interstate outbreaks have worsened, with New South Wales recording 24 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19.
Half were in isolation for their entire infectious period, but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said some were working in the community while symptomatic.
Queensland recorded two new local cases overnight, while the Northern Territory announced one new local case.
WOMAN DIES AFTER FIRST DOSE OF ASTRAZENECA
A woman has died within five weeks receiving her first dose of AstraZeneca in Australia while 16 patients remain in intensive care after suffering blood clots, the national drug regulator has announced.
The woman died in the UK and the Therapeutic Goods Administration says the death may have been related to pre-existing medical conditions and travelling.
Preliminary reports suggest she may have developed blood clots, assessed as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), the TGA states.
“While some of her symptoms, imaging results and pathology tests suggested TTS, the woman had another very serious and recent underlying health condition and UK authorities have ordered a post-mortem to assess whether this condition, along with the impact of long plane and car travel from Australia to the UK, had a role in her death,” the TGA reported.
The TGA’s latest report announced five additional cases of blood clots linked with AstraZeneca inoculations and an increase in heart muscle inflammation linked with Pfizer vaccinations.
Two TTS cases have been confirmed and three are deemed probable blood clots.
The two confirmed cases are a 53-year-old woman from Western Australia and a 59-year-old woman from Victoria.
The three probable cases involved two men, aged 77 and 83, and woman, 64, all from NSW.
It brings the total number of cases of linked with TTS to 69, including two deaths, with 41 confirmed cases and 28 probable cases from 4.6 million doses.
GPS INTERVENE AFTER ALARMING ADVICE
Senior GPs intervened on Wednesday after politicians and health officers in several states told young adults they should not get the AstraZeneca shot because of the extremely rare risk of blood clots.
While Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for Australians under 60, Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week indemnified GPs to offer AstraZeneca to adults of all ages.
His move was based on advice from the expert immunisation panel.
The expert panel advised that all adults could choose AstraZeneca “if the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks … and the person has made an informed decision based on an understanding of the risks and benefits”.
On Tuesday, 67,333 people were vaccinated by GPs — up from 48,309 on Monday — as clinics were inundated by young people wanting the jab.
But Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young told people under 40 not to get AstraZeneca because she did not want “an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness”.
And that state’s Deputy Premier, Steven Miles, accused the Prime Minister of attempting to “overrule the medical advice” and of putting “Queenslanders at risk”.
The comments were immediately seized upon by anti-vaccination groups on Facebook.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid said: “Today shows why we need to keep politicians out of health discussions.”
Former federal deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said vaccine advice “should not be paternalistic” and adults “should be allowed to consent” to the 1-in-33,000 risk of a clot.
AMA vice president Chris Moy said leaders should listen to the health advice “before they go out and say things”. Asked about Dr Young’s comments, he said doctors were “not gods” and were responsible for providing information to their patients.
“People are allowed to accept risks. Doctors should not be imposing their view about risk on others,” he said.
“Patients can make their own decisions and give informed consent. It’s not hard. It’s essentially the same thing that happens in a general practice every day.”
“We just have to get back to basics about this discussion on risks and benefits.”
He said a young adult who avoided the AstraZeneca vaccine could also end up dying from Covid-19, passing the virus to someone else who died, or becoming a superspreader.
“It’s the same risks for the patient either way and it’s for them to decide,” Dr Moy said.
WA Premier Mark McGowan also said people under 40 should not get AstraZeneca, while federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese accused Mr Morrison of changing the advice.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said he would not be “adding to the confusion”, although he said the debate was “an unfortunate reflection of the rushed conversation that the Prime Minister kicked off on Monday night”.
Leading epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said when it came to public health “we’re all better off if we’re all singing from the same … choirbook”.
Dr Khorshid said the PM’s announcement had “thrown a little bit of a hand grenade” into the vaccine rollout.
Dr Coatsworth said Dr Young was “out on a very lonely limb” and that “nearly every medical leader” was concerned by her comments.
“It is the case that Australians who are young who contract Covid can go to intensive care units and do have a risk of dying from Covid-19,” he said.
“And that risk is higher than the risk of the clotting complications from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“Those stats have been replicated around the world. It’s very hard to sort of combat the emotional argument of the risk of death from a vaccine. Now, that is very hard to come back with cold, hard facts.
“But, sometimes you need to. And, the facts are that the risk of dying from an AstraZeneca vaccine is less than one in a million, and people need to have choice. If they’ve assessed that risk and, then they’re perfectly entitled to choose as an adult, as a consenting adult, to have the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
“Really, this is about practitioners who are seeing patients every day, general practitioners, physicians such as myself. We’re the ones that are consenting the patients, not the chief health officers.“
“And, so, we need to be able to have open and frank discussions with our patients and we shouldn’t interfere with the doctor patient relationship and the right to choose.”
But federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government had followed the advice of the expert immunisation panel.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews also lashed out at the Queensland government, accusing it of creating a “smokescreen” to distract from its quarantine system failures by misrepresenting data about foreigners arriving during the pandemic.
PUSH TO REDUCE TRAVELLERS CONTINUES
Mr Andrews has called for a “debate” at national cabinet on Friday about the number of returned travellers into the country.
“It’s better to have some locked out than everyone locked down,” Mr Andrews said on Thursday.
“There is no comparison. This has to happen. I think we need to see a very significant reduction.”
Mr Andrews flagged that he’d want to see a reduction of between 75 and 80 per cent of travellers.
“We’ve all given so much, particularly Victorians, let’s safeguard that.
“Let’s deal with this reality of this kind of no man’s land we’re at the moment where we haven’t got enough people vaccinated.”
Mr Andrews said it wasn’t adequate to house potentially infectious people in facilities designed to host tourists.
“This is our highest risk period,” he said.
AFL’S 25,000 CAP REMAINS AS FEARS SPREAD
Victoria’s planned easing of restrictions, including bigger crowds at the footy, has stalled as the nation’s coronavirus concerns grow.
AFL crowds – which were to increase to 85 per cent of capacity this weekend – will stay capped at 25,000 fans for at least another week. All 18 clubs will be based in Melbourne or Geelong for at least this round, which is a big win for fans of interstate teams living in Victoria.
“I only usually get to see them play three or four times a year, but now I can every week,” Sydney Swans supporter Jack Edwards, 22, said.
Popular stage shows such as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Frozen were to open to full houses, but will stay at 50 per cent capacity with a maximum of 1000 for each performance.
Five states and territories are battling to control growing outbreaks, with local authorities on high alert for any leakages into Victoria.
Health Minister Martin Foley said it was necessary to delay the easing of restrictions, due to happen at 11.59pm on Thursday, to protect Victoria’s largely Covid-free status.
One new local case, a close contact linked to the Epping Private Hospital, was detected on Wednesday but no new exposure sites emerged as she had been in isolation.
Just nine cases associated with the state’s Kappa and Delta outbreaks, which plunged Victoria into lockdown, remained active.
“It is clear that as a nation things are extremely delicately poised,’’ Mr Foley said.
Victorians won’t be subjected to any new restrictions, but tougher border measures could be implemented as the situation unfolds. “We are very vulnerable to those embers flying into Victoria,” Covid commander Jeroen Weimar said.
Victorian holiday-makers returning from red zones interstate, including southeast Queensland, now face 14 days’ home quarantine after missing the Wednesday 1am cut-off.
Authorities visited 120 people on Wednesday including red zone returnees, and the “vast majority” were appropriately quarantined. Two people who were supposed to be in home isolation have been referred to Victoria Police.
Anna Martin, husband Nick and sons William, 7, and Mitchell, 5, were forced to cut a seven-day stay on the Gold Coast short but couldn’t get a flight back before the deadline.
They will now quarantine at their McKinnon home. “There weren’t a lot of flights available,” Ms Martin said.
Leongatha mum Claire Wilkinson and daughter Sophie, 3, arrived in Queensland on Monday, only getting the chance to go to Movie World before lockdown hit.
Ms Wilkinson said having to quarantine for 14 days made her “nervous”. “But we’ll commit to it because we don’t want to spread Covid,” she said.
Scott and Paula Monkhouse of Box Hill South were forced into hotel quarantine in Queensland after passing through terminal three at Melbourne Airport, named a tier 2 exposure site, en route to the Gold Coast with their two sons. “It’s ridiculous,” he said.
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