Top doctor says AstraZeneca vaccine advice wrong, jab should be given to everyone

AstraZeneca jabs should be given to everyone, according to an expert who says the nation has almost no chance of eliminating Delta.

A leading medical expert says the ruling on AstraZeneca by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation was “wrong”.

The head of Australia’s top medical research organisation wants AstraZeneca jabs given to everyone — now.

Professor Bruce Robinson, outgoing chairman of the National Health and Medical Research Council, has called for a rapid vaccine rollout, warning the Delta variant is unlikely to be brought under control.

He wants all restrictions on AstraZeneca scrapped, saying the chances of the country eliminating Delta are now “close to zero”.

Professor Robinson said the ruling by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) was “wrong” and needs to be changed “ASAP”.

It is understood the Morrison government supports a mass rollout of AstraZeneca.

It has previously expressed frustration with ATAGI, believing its recommendations have slowed the speed of the vaccine rollout.

Professor Bruce Robinson says AstraZeneca has been given a bad rap. Picture: Christian Gilles

Professor Robinson was speaking ahead of the release in coming days of a “second opinion” signed by a number of senior medical practitioners recommending everyone be given AstraZeneca.

“This virus is spreading and there’s probably no stopping it,” he said.

“We really do feel that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been getting a really bad rap and that unfortunately the ATAGI advice might have been appropriate for a time when we had very little Covid but the inevitability of us being in a situation that we’re in now I suppose was predictable.”

He said he believed there was now “a groundswell of medical opinion which feels ATAGI’s advice was wrong and that it needs to be publicly changed” so as to encourage greater uptake of AstraZeneca.

Professor Robinson said it was the view of several scientists that Australia was now at a tipping point.

“The chance of eliminating this is close to zero — there are many people I have spoken to who share that view,” he said.

“We might suppress it but we will be really unlikely to eliminate it and that’s because we see people who are clearly infectious without knowing it and they’re out and about.

“They should make a statement ASAP because at the moment we can’t afford people to be hesitant about getting a vaccine.”

There are now one million Victorians fully vaccinated — but that is still less than 20 per cent of the eligible population.

And Victorians fleeing Queensland hot spots after they were thrown into snap lockdowns on Saturday will have to quarantine for 14 days on their return home.

New health restrictions enforced at 8pm on Saturday mean that returning residents must apply for “red zone permits” before travel and isolate on arrival.

Non-Victorians from the outbreak zones — City of Brisbane, Moreton Bay Regional Council, City of Gold Coast, City of Ipswich, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Logan City, Noosa Shire Council, Redland City, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Regional Council — will be barred from visiting without exemption permits.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said returning residents who got red zone permits to enter Victoria “must travel directly home, get tested and quarantine for 14 days”.

The outbreak is also causing headaches for federal politicians, after the ACT backdated stay-at-home orders to anyone who visited Queensland hot spots since July 21 – which includes Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.

Federal MPs who visited the affected areas should be able to sit in parliament this week once they receive a negative Covid test.

As Queensland turned red and NSW continued to battle its Delta outbreak crisis, South Australia is now an orange zone for Victorians.

This means people must get a Covid test on returning home or visiting Victoria and isolate until getting a negative result.

The coronavirus chaos across the country comes as states and territories race to arm themselves with vaccines to avoid lockdowns in future, after national cabinet declared that at least 70 per cent of eligible recipients must get the jab before harsh restrictions are binned.

Victoria on Saturday changed its system for administering Pfizer, spacing doses out to six weeks instead of three in a bid to get more needles in arms during supply problems.

Health Minister Martin Foley said Victoria’s recent outbreak now looked to be contained. Two new cases are linked to existing clusters.

This included a second traffic controller at a Moonee Valley testing site, with Woolworths in Devon Plaza, Doncaster, now deemed a Tier 1 exposure venue if people visited between 10:20am and 11:25am on Wednesday.