Almost 40% of eligible Tasmanians have received the vaccine
Almost forty per cent of eligible Tasmanians have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and just over 12 per cent are now fully vaccinated. LATEST ADVICE >>
Tasmania
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ALMOST forty per cent of eligible Tasmanians have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with authorities urging people to attend their second dose appointment.
Just over 12 per cent of those eligible for the vaccine have been fully vaccinated to date, with that number set to spike significantly in coming weeks as Tasmanians receive a second jab.
As at July 1, there had been a total of 224,219 doses of the vaccine put into the arms of eligible Tasmanians.
“We are making good progress but we need to do more,’’ health department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said.
“If you have a second dose appointment coming up, please make sure you keep that appointment.
“We need as many Tasmanians to be fully vaccinated as possible and two doses are required for the best protection.”
Tasmanian authorities have called for authorised pharmacy immunisers to work in state clinics, that would help enable them to take part in the vaccination program in pharmacies.
State officials are working through the process to have pharmacies approved to deliver the jabs, with just 49 pharmacies currently immunising for Covid-19 across Australia, compared to more than 5000 general practitioners.
It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said state and territory leaders had agreed to a four-phase plan tied to vaccination thresholds for over-16s.
It involves a post-vaccination phase where focus shifts from suppressing the virus to minimising serious illness and death, and ends with a return to normal with no lockdowns or border closures, and quarantine only for unvaccinated travellers.
Meanwhile, mandatory use of the Check in Tas app in new locations in Tasmania including retail premises like supermarkets, shopping centres and big box outlets, will start on Wednesday.
It comes as Tasmanian health authorities confirmed current border restrictions on travellers from high-risk areas interstate would remain in place until at least early next week.
Premier Peter Gutwein said the state would continue to take a cautious approach to borders.
For NSW, high-risk declarations remain in place for Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong.
For Queensland, travellers within the City of Brisbane, the City of Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay Region, Redland City, Sunshine Coast Region, Shire of Noosa, Somerset Region, Lockyer Valley Region, Scenic Rim Region, City of Gold Coast, City of Townsville (including Magnetic Island) and the Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island cannot travel to Tasmania.
In Western Australia, Great Perth, Mandurah, Boddington, Murray, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Waroona are deemed high-risk, while travellers from the Northern Territory regions of Darwin, Palmerston, Litchfield and Alice Springs are also locked out of Tasmania.
Public Health director Mark Veitch said control measures had kept numbers of new Covid-19 cases low in most states that had experienced small outbreaks.
Dr Veitch said he was reviewing the epidemiology of mainland cases and the risk to Tasmania daily.
People in Tasmania experiencing cold or flu symptoms, regardless of how mild they were, were encouraged to get tested for Covid-19 by phoning the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.
The state has had a record week of Covid-19 testing, with more than 5000 tests conducted in the past four days and 1241 presentations to state clinics on Thursday.
100 Tasmania pharmacies ready to rollout the jab
FRUSTRATED Tasmaian pharmacists feel hamstrung as they wait to learn when the 100 local pharmacies eligible to deliver Covid-19 vaccines will be able to help with the rollout.
Tasmania is the only state in Australia which is not using pharmacies to speed up the delivery of the vaccine to the population.
And Head of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Tasmanian branch Helen O’Byrne said local chemists could not understand what the hold up was.
Premier Peter Gutwein on Wednesday said the government would outline its position at the end of next week.
“We are doing what we can to provide more vaccination options,” he said.
He also encouraged pharmacists to put in an application to work in Tasmania’s State-run vaccination clinics.
Ms O’Byrne said Queensland pharmacists had been delivering the vaccine since June 6.
“We heard on Friday that pharmacists in Tasmania would be involved in the next stage of the rollout here but really it is a bit too little too late,” she said.
“The Tasmanian Health Department has known since April there are 100 pharmacists already given the tick of approval to do so.”
In Tasmania has so far, about 200,000 jabs have been administered which Ms O'Byrne said was a “solid effort.”
“But we are going to need a higher rate if we are going to meet the aim of vaccinating all Tasmanian by Christmas,” she said.
“There has to be more capacity and we are frustrated because we can provide that capacity.”
Tasmanian pharmacists were approved to administer all vaccines, she said and had the cold chain logistics and supply lines to do so safely.
“For some reason our department has not seen fit to involve us to date. We are trying to organise a meeting now.”
Ms O’Byrne said payments to pharmacists were being managed by Pharmacy Programs on behalf of the Commonwealth with the money comings from Federal resources.
“Pharmacists remuneration is significantly less than the remuneration for Medicare Item number that GP’s and nurses receive to administer the vaccine despite the fact that we have done the same training,” she said.
All other states except Tasmania and ACT (who do not have any MMM2-7 pharmacies) have activated pharmacies. There are around 300 pharmacies that have been activated across Australia.
There are 100 community pharmacies in Tasmania that have been deemed eligible to vaccinate.
How to get vaccinated in Tassie if you’re under 40
UPDATE, June 30:
It is now possible for Tasmanians aged under 40 to book an AstraZeneca vaccination, through the Australian government’s Covid-19 caccination website.
This avenue was made available today through the Department of Health website, which takes those interested through a vaccine eligibility checker before redirecting them to the Hobart Respiratory Clinic Derwent Park website to book an appointment.
This follows today’s article in The Mercury about confusion surrounding possible venues for those aged under 40 to receive an AstraZeneca vaccine, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement on Monday night surrounding a change in eligibility for this vaccine.
The eligibility checker states that those aged 16-39 years old may be eligible, and if so they will either be redirected to find a suitable venue and time for appointment, and if this cannot be found to keep checking the website as new clinics and appointments are being added all the time.
Those wanting to confirm their eligibility and book an appointment can do so here.
EARLIER:
CONFUSION reigns over where Tasmanians aged under 40 may be able to receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a change in eligibility.
Mr Morrison’s revelation on Monday night that those aged under 40 could access the AstraZeneca jab raised hopes for many younger people.
But it will not necessarily be as easy as just booking into their general practitioner, having a conversation with their doctor and being vaccinated.
The vaccine manufactured by Pfizer is recommended for those aged under 60, because the AstraZeneca jab is earmarked for those aged over 60 due to the risk of rare blood clotting disorders linked to the vaccine in younger people.
But Mr Morrison encouraged under-40s to have a discussion with their GP about getting the AstraZeneca jab from their own doctor.
However, many general practices are not involved in the vaccination effort and are not set up to deliver the jab.
It means younger Tasmanian patients on the books at these practices would be unable to be vaccinated by their GP, leaving them with two options.
The first is they could try to secure an appointment at a GP who is participating in the rollout, a difficult task given many do not accept new patients.
The second would be to attempt to get an appointment at a state clinic, which is problematic because the federal health department’s eligibility checker tells them they are not eligible.
Mr Morrison’s announcement gave the impression under-40s would get easy access to AstraZeneca, but that does not necessarily appear to be the case.
Tasmanian health department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks on Tuesday morning said that development specifically related to GP clinics, saying currently ineligible under-40s would not be coming to state-run clinics.
That also indicated this group would not be able to access a state-run clinic even if they had a referral from their GP.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Tasmanian chair Dr Tim Jackson, whose Eastern Shore Doctors practices are involved in the Covid-19 vaccination effort, said there had not been a flood of inquiries from under-40s after Mr Morrison’s announcement.
But he was unsure what it meant for patients whose general practice was not part of the vaccination program.
Dr Jackson said there was no supply issues with AstraZeneca, which is manufactured in Melbourne.
“We’ve got vials of AstraZeneca sitting in the fridge but we haven’t got any Pfizer available,’’ he said.
Australian Medical Association Tasmanian spokeswoman Annette Barratt said she understood if a patient’s regular GP was not involved in the rollout, they could still get the jab.
“They would go through one of the hubs, they would contact the health line and book through the system that’s available,’’ she said.
“That will be updated in the next few days, to direct them to one of the respiratory clinics.”
Dr Barratt said many had been “caught on the hop” by Mr Morrison’s announcement.
Dr Barratt encouraged those aged under 40 to do their research on the vaccine from reputable sources and consult their doctor before making a decision about whether to come forward for AstraZeneca.
She said the chance of a blood clotting case was “incredibly low” and the risk to a person’s health was much less than sickness from coronavirus disease.
“People have been lulled into complacency,’’ she said.
“Tasmanians have been safe, but people don’t realise it can change just so fast, which is one of the reasons why the AMA have been pushing the government to accelerate the rollout.”
How to get the jab: Vaccine now ‘available’ to all Tasmanian adults
TASMANIA has plenty of AstraZeneca doses on hand if there is a rush of under 40s booking in for the jab under changes announced by the Federal Government on Monday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in a push to get as many people vaccinated as possible, announced that Covid-19 vaccinations would become compulsory for residential aged care workers and Australians aged under 40 can now give “informed consent” to a GP to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Before Monday, people aged under 60 were advised to wait to receive a dose of the limited Pfizer vaccine.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Tasmania Chair Dr Tim Jackson said he was not expecting a huge rush of under 40s to book in for the AstraZeneca vaccine at this stage.
“It really all depends on how the situation unfolds. If Tasmania did happen to get a community transmission case then the demand would clearly increase and this could be a problem as most general practices are already very busy with their normal clinical load,” Dr Jackson said.
He said Tasmania had plenty of AstraZeneca stock but Pfizer was still limited and available only at state run clinics.
He said the changes could be confusing for patients and put an extra burden on general practices.
“We now need to discuss with each patient under 60 if they wish to have the AstraZeneca vaccine and to advise of the positives and negative side effects which is the rare case of blood clotting and the chances of that increase the younger you are.”
“Implementing the indemnity scheme will definitely help GP’s feel more comfortable.”
AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid agrees saying his organisation had proposed such a scheme in January.
“For such a scheme to be effective and fair, we knew it needed to cover all vaccines, administered to all age groups and be applied retrospectively,” Dr Khorshid said.
“We will now work with government to extend the Medicare support for COVID-19 vaccine consultations to Australians under the age of 50.”
The head of Tasmania’s health department said the State’s 8500 residential aged care workers would be vaccinated by mid September.
Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said 70 per cent had already received their first dose – ahead of other states and territories.
WHO CAN NOW GET THE VACCINE (Pfizer and AstraZeneca):
Any Tasmanian aged over 16. Those aged over 60 are recommended to get the AstraZeneca dose. Pfizer is recommended for those aged 40-59 but anyone can now get the AstraZeneca vaccine if they consent.
WHERE TO GET IT:
Make an appointment with your GP for the AstraZeneca vaccine as those aged under 40 need to give “informed consent”.
16-39 with underlying medical condition or with a disability or who are a 1A worker – Make an appointmnet for Pfizer
40-59 make an appointment for Pfizer
16-39 and 60+ (and 40-59 who make the choice) Make an appointment with your GP for the Astrazeneca vaccine, those aged under 60 need to give “informed consent” based on a discussion of risk.
The Pfizer vaccine is available at clinics at Invermay, Scotsdale, the RHH, the LGH, Wellington, Moonah and Burnie and through some, but not all, GPs.
Originally published as Almost 40% of eligible Tasmanians have received the vaccine
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