Radical changes proposed for Australia’s vaccination program amid Victoria outbreak

A serious Covid-19 outbreak is unfolding in Victoria and experts believe Australia should make radical changes to its vaccination program.

Experts have called for a radical overhaul of Australia’s vaccination program amid the Victorian outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases in the state grew to 40 on Sunday, with authorities worried over the discovery of the first mystery case.

Victoria’s list of exposure sites has now soared past 170 venues and authorities are particularly concerned about the number of “high-risk” sites identified, such as pubs and clubs, leading to fears the state could see an explosion of infections in the coming days.

A seven-day snap lockdown has been introduced over the entire state but experts believe the rest of Australia should also contribute.

University of NSW Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, who is an adviser to the World Health Organisation, believes Australia’s vaccination program should be adjusted so that doses of the Pfizer vaccine are redirected to the state as a priority.

“I’m calling for donations of Pfizer down to Victoria now,” she told The Project.

There are limited supplies of the Pfizer vaccine in Australia, which is being manufactured overseas, but those who get the vaccine only have a three-week wait between their first and second doses, compared to 12 weeks for those who get the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“If we can get everybody having their first dose now, they will start to build up a better response,” Prof McLaws said.

She also believes Australia should be protecting its younger people as a priority, instead of older Australians.

“The group that are the greatest risk are the 20 to 39-year-olds and they’re the ones that have previously been about 40 per cent of total cases.”

RELATED: Victorian cases spark fears about lockdown extension

Experts believe Australia should be vaccinating its younger population as a priority in the wake of the Victoria outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

Younger people are more likely to spread the virus as they more likely to be working in jobs such as Uber drivers and to be out-and-about.

Currently, those under the age of 40 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated unless they have an underlying medical condition, or they work in quarantine, healthcare or other high risk areas.

In the wake of growing cases last week, Victoria expanded the vaccine rollout to allow those over 40 years old to get the Pfizer vaccine.

The Federal Government has restricted the Pfizer vaccine to those younger than 50 years old due to an increased risk of rare but serious blood clots in younger people.

The Morrison Government has been fielding criticism of its vaccination rollout with some blaming its mixed messages about the urgency of getting vaccinated.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Trade Minister Dan Tehan on Sunday echoed comments from Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the rollout was “not a race”.

Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the rollout and said on Sunday almost 600,000 Australians had been vaccinated over the past six days in a record high.

“This week has seen Australians come out in record numbers, we are six days into the week and already we have seen a record number of australians for this week, 599,846 be vaccinated,” Mr Hunt said.

“More people are being vaccinated at a faster rate than ever before”.

However, Mr Hunt also revealed that up to 15 per cent of Victorian aged care residents had opted out of getting vaccinated.

Overall 4.2 million doses have been administered but it’s unclear how many people have been fully vaccinated — which means they have had both doses.

Mr Hunt said Sunday marked the commencement of the second dose phase for those who have had the AstraZeneca vaccine.

He urged people to come forward for their second dose as soon as possible.

When asked whether the vaccination message had been confused and the government needed a reset on that, Mr Hunt said the message had always been for people to come forward at the earliest possible time.

“Indeed, I said that a couple of weeks ago in response to a question and it was very clear that the message is do not wait,” he said.

[e-mail] | @charischang2