Live breaking news: Melbourne man hospitalised after AstraZeneca vaccine

A 44-year-old man has been admitted to hospital in Melbourne with a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

A 44-year-old man has been admitted to hospital in Melbourne with a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The man received the jab on March 22, and presented to hospital with a fever and abdominal pain.

He was found to have abdominal clots with a very low platelet count, with the symptoms mirroring those described by German scientists following administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, The Australianreports.

The scientists dubbed them vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT). In Canada, officials estimated it has a 40 per cent mortality rate.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) met today and is discussing the case, with acting chief medical officer Michael Kidd set to provide an update on his condition this afternoon.

Australian health authorities and hospitals have repeatedly maintained that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has continued to back the rollout of it across the nation – despite several European countries and Canada suspending or restricting their usage of it in recent weeks.

In a statement on March 19, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) "concluded that the benefits of vaccination using AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine continue to outweigh any risk of side effects".

This live blog has now ended. Read on for earlier updates or visit the news.com.au homepage for the latest news.

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Updates

6:57 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Vaccine chaos on the Qld frontline

A communication failure has led to dozens of nurses being turned away from a major Brisbane hospital today after being called in to get their coronavirus vaccine.

A nurse from a public hospital in the Sunshine State's capital was told in an email that included detailed information to arrive for an appointment on April 4 at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH).

The email, seen by NCA NewsWire and sent from 'Queensland Health Vaccine Bookings', provided the nurse with a QR code to identify themselves and instructed them to proceed to a specific location within the hospital.

Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

The nurse, who requested to remain anonymous, said the confirmation email arrived immediately after Queensland Health told staff in another email to register to get their job.

But when the nurse and more than a dozen other health professionals queued up at the RBWH at their allotted time today, a nurse manager told them the vaccine clinic was closed and there were no staff on duty to administer the vital jab.

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

4:59 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Huge death toll as packed train derails

At least 36 people have been killed, and dozens more injured, after a packed train in eastern Taiwan derailed.

Police said the accident was believed to have been caused by a construction vehicle sliding down an embankment and striking the train before it entered the tunnel.

“There was a construction vehicle that didn’t park properly and slid onto the rail track,” Hualien county police chief Tsai Ding-hsien told reporters.

“This is our initial understanding and we are clarifying the cause of the incident,” he added.

Picture: Supplied

Local media pictures from the scene showed the back of a yellow flatbed truck on its side next to the train.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s office said she had ordered hospitals to prepare for a mass casualty event.

“The top priority now is to rescue the stranded people,” it said in a statement.

Railway police said 36 passengers were classified as “out of hospital cardiac arrest” — a term for someone showing no signs of life.

A further 72 people were still believed to be trapped inside train carriages while 61 passengers had been sent to hospital.

– with AFP

4:49 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

New warning after vax blood clot case

A new warning has been issued for vaccine patients from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), advising them of the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder.

The warning tells patients who received either of the COVID-19 vaccines to be aware of common side effects which include fever, sore muscles, tiredness and headaches usually 24 hours after the dose.

“The reports from overseas of rare clotting disorders have occurred later than this. Between day four and day 20, after vaccination, and have generally caused severe symptoms requiring hospitalisation,” the warning reads.

“People should be particularly alert to severe persistent headaches occurring 4- 20 days after vaccination and which are different to the usual pattern of headaches that people may experience at other times and which do not settle with paracetamol or other over the counter painkillers.”

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

4:48 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Radical ID plan for social media use

The Morrison Government will consider a radical measure to prevent online bullying and trolling, but experts say the proposal would involve serious risks for social media users.

The government is considering forcing users of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — as well as online dating platforms like Tinder — to upload 100 points of identification in order to use them.

The recommendation, which has been raised before, is one of 88 recommendations from a parliamentary committee report looking at family, domestic and sexual violence.

Picture: Denis Charlet/AFP

“In order to open or maintain an existing social media account, customers should be required by law to identify themselves to a platform using 100 points of identification, in the same way as a person must provide identification for a mobile phone account, or to buy a mobile SIM card,” the report suggests.

It goes on to say that social media platforms “must provide those identifying details when requested by the eSafety Commissioner, law enforcement or as directed by the court”.

4:42 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

New contact tracing venues in Qld

A number of new venues have been issued alerts by Queensland Health, after being visited by a confirmed case of COVID-19.

GET TESTED IMMEDIATELY, QUARANTINE FOR 14 DAYS REGARDLESS OF RESULT

• KCF Training (gym), Birtinya on Monday, March 22 between 9.15am and 11.30am
• Plus Fitness, Minyama on Monday, March 22 between 2.30pm and 3.30pm or on Tuesday, March 23 between 7.30am and 8.30am
• Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton on Tuesday, March 23 between 2.20pm and 5.23pm
• Oliver's Real Food (dine in patrons), Maryborough West on Wednesday, March 24 between 11.50am and 12.09pm

GET TESTED IMMEDIATELY, QUARANTINE UNTIL A NEGATIVE RESULT IS RECEIVED

• Plus Fitness, Everton Park on Thursday, March 18 between 8am and 9.30am or on Friday, March 19 between 7.30am and 9am
• Giant Chemist, Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Broadbeach on Thursday, March 18 between 1.45pm and 2pm
• Studio Pilates, Grange on Thursday, March 18 between 4.30pm and 5.15pm or on Friday, March 19 between 12.15pm and 1pm
• Chemist Warehouse, Windsor on Friday, March 19 between 2pm and 2.20pm
• Woolworths, Mountain Creek on Monday, March 22 between 4.15pm and 4.40pm
• Nutrition Warehouse, Maroochydore on Tuesday, March 23 between 11.15am and 11.30am
• Brightwater Medical Centre, Brightwater Shopping Centre, Mountain Creek on Tuesday, March 23 between 12pm and 12.45pm
• QML Pathology, Brightwater Shopping Centre, Mountain Creek on Tuesday, March 22 between 1pm and 1.15pm

HISTORIC CASUAL CONTACTS: GET TESTED IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS AND QUARANTINE UNTIL A NEGATIVE RESULT IS RECEIVED

• Plus Fitness, Everton Park on Wednesday, March 10 between 1.15pm and 2.15pm; Thursday, March 11 between 3.30pm and 5pm; Friday, March 12 between 3.30pm and 5pm; Sunday, March 14 between 8.30am and 10am; Monday, March 15 between 9m and 10.30am or on Tuesday, March 16 between 4.30pm and 5.30pm
• Woolworths, Everton Park on Wednesday, March 10 between 2.30pm and 2.40pm or on Wednesday, March 17 between 2.30pm and 3pm
• Woolworths and Specsavers, Brookside Shopping Centre, Mitchelton on Saturday, March 13 between 4pm and 5pm
• Studio Pilates, Grange on Wednesday, March 17 between 4.30pm and 5.15pm

4:26 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

'Suspected second case' of clotting condition

The ABC's Dr Norman Swan, who presents the broadcaster's Coronacast podcast, has said he's been told of "a suspected second case" of an Australian with a rare blood clotting condition seemingly associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

"I have been told there's a suspected second case, whether that's been reported to the Commonwealth, I don't know," Dr Swan told ABC 24 just now.

News of Australia's first case of what European scientists have called vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) broke today, and was identified in a 44-year-old Melbourne man wo received the jab on March 22.

He's currently being treated for the "extremely rare condition" at Box Hill Hospital, after presenting with a fever and abdominal pain.

4:15 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Authorities taking 'potential risk very seriously'

The acting CMO has reinforced the importance of Australians getting vaccinated, but said authorities are taking the "potential risk" of the clotting disorder "very seriously".

"We continue in Australia to be at risk of another serious outbreak of COVID-19 at a time when most of our population has no immunity from either past infection or from vaccination," Professor Kidd said.

"We do have low risk of transmission of COVID-19 in Australia at this time but we are being open about possible risks and acknowledge the uncertainty that this will cause. We are taking this potential risks very seriously.

"At this time, the risk of serious disease and death from COVID-19, if we experience another severe outbreak, especially among older Australians and those with severe health conditions, is far greater than the very small potential risk of a very rare clotting disorder associated with the vaccine.

"I acknowledge that people will be anxious and we will get more information to you as soon as we have available."

4:05 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

'Still not clear' whether clotting is linked to vaccine

Professor Kidd says that at this stage, "it is still not clear" whether a blood clotting disorder is linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The condition has been identified for the first time in Australia in a 44-year-old man in Melbourne, who received the jab in March.

"Members of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, ATAGI, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the TGA, and the Australian Government Department of Health met early this morning with technical advisory experts and regulators in the United Kingdom," he said.

Prof Kidd added the case in Melbourne is "currently being investigated by the TGA".

"Investigators have not at this time confirmed a casual link with the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine but investigations are ongoing," he said.

The "very rare disorder" has "previously not been known to be associated with vaccine, however it has been noted as a complication of people who have contracted COVID-19", the acting CMO said.

4:05 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Greater Brisbane no longer Commonwealth hot spot

Acting chief medical officer Michael Kidd has announced that greater Brisbane is no longer considered a hot spot by the Federal Government.

"Australians know how to respond when we have a crisis like this," Professor Kidd told reporters, citing that there were no locally transmitted cases around Australia in the last 24 hours, and the high test numbers.

"As a consequence, as acting chief medical officer, I have removed the Commonwealth hot spot definition for the greater Brisbane area as of 11:59pm last night, however Commonwealth support for asymptomatic testing in the community and support for residential aged care facilities continues."

4:02 pm April 2, 2021 Highlight

Sun Yang's Olympic dream not dead yet

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said a new hearing for Sun Yang, the Chinese swimming star who had an eight-year ban for doping overturned last year, will be held in May.

“A new hearing will take place during the week of 24-28 May 2021,” CAS said in a statement.

Switzerland’s federal supreme court overturned the ban on the 29-year-old, who was accused of destroying a blood vial with a hammer when collectors visited his home in September 2018, over alleged bias towards the triple Olympic champion.

The new hearing takes place just two months before the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics are held, keeping his slim hopes of competing in Japan alive.

Picture: AFP

Sun, the 1500m freestyle world record-holder, had initially been suspended in February 2020.

However, the Swiss federal court agreed with the swimmer’s lawyers who argued that the president of the CAS panel, Italian Franco Frattini, had previously made anti-Chinese tweets. They claimed the Twitter statements were racist in nature.

“Following the decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal of 22 December 2020 to remove the previous President of the Arbitral Panel, the other Panel members stepped down and an entirely new panel was appointed,” added the CAS statement.

It will be composed of new president Hans Nater of Switzerland, France’s Jan Paulsson and Bernard Hanotiau of Belgium.
– AFP