Doctors urge people to get Covid-19 jab after rise in ‘vaccine no shows’

People in one state are not showing up for their vaccine appointments, prompting urgent reminders that getting the Covid-19 jab is the ‘only way out of this nightmare’.

A large portion of Victorians who have booked a Covid-19 jab are not showing up for their appointment, slowing down the country’s vaccine rollout, according to an emergency physician.

Dr Stephen Parnis said some of the state’s vaccination hubs and general practitioner clinics were reporting 20 per cent of their daily vaccine appointments as “no shows”.

“The obvious concern is we‘re not taking advantage of the limited supplies we have at the moment – that slows the rate of uptake and speeding up that rate is the only way to get out of this Covid-19 nightmare,” he said.

Dr Parnis also said Victoria’s latest snap lockdown meant some people could be confused about whether they were allowed to leave home to get vaccinated.

Under the reasons allowed to leave your home, getting a Covid-19 jab was permitted.

Dr Stephen Parnis is urging Victorians not to miss their vaccine appointments. Picture: Kym Smith

The rollout has seen 10.1 million doses administered so far, with about 10.9 per cent of the eligible population aged over 16 fully vaccinated with two doses.

The Commonwealth’s original long-term target, to fully vaccinate all 20 million adults by the end of October, suffered a major setback after official medical advice recommended against the use of the AstraZeneca jab for people under the age of 50 because of concerns about a rare blood clotting disease.

The rollout has seen 10.1 million doses administered so far. Picture: Luis Ascui / NCA NewsWire

Instead, the government was looking towards a “scientific number” of vaccination rates, not a ”political number or arbitrary number” towards the end of the year.

“It’s been a process of evolution like the vaccine rollout,” Dr Parnis said.

“The changes in messaging about vaccine safety has brought about considerable confusion and distress in much of the population – almost every person can name the rare complication associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine but they can’t tell you the mortality rate is one in a million.

“Just this morning, someone got approached by workers at a vaccination centre and was asked if they were after the Pfizer vaccine, otherwise it would go to waste.

“When you’ve got an entire community – particularly a place like Melbourne, where many are at the end of their tether and being in lockdown stirs up trauma from last year – many people are suffering from information overload.

“Millions are traumatised and when you’re under that level of pressure, making bookings for things and committing to them can be compromised – it’s not an easy time for millions of people.”

Almost 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Melbourne overnight. Picture: Wayne Taylor / NCA NewsWire

Almost 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Australia overnight.

National Covid Vaccine Taskforce co-ordinator Lieutenant-General John Frewen said he was hopeful the latest arrival of vaccines would speed up the country’s rollout.

The doses were unloaded at the DHL depot at Perth International Airport on Sunday night after arriving on a flight from Singapore.

More than 800,000 are landing in Sydney and almost 100,000 in Melbourne, as both NSW and Victoria grapple with serious coronavirus outbreaks.

“Ten million doses have been administered to Australians, which is really significant,” Lieutenant-General Frewen told 3AW on Monday morning.

“Now we’ve got this arrival overnight of a million doses of Pfizer. That’s about a tripling of where we were a fortnight ago.”

National Covid Vaccine Taskforce co-ordinator Lieutenant-General John Frewen says he is hopeful the latest arrival of vaccines would speed up the country’s rollout. Picture: Martin Ollman / NCA NewsWire

Under 40s would be able to access Pfizer in late September or early October, which was expected to boost vaccination rates.

In Victoria, anyone aged 40 to 59 years old can get the Pfizer jab.

People can book an appointment online at many vaccination centres in Melbourne and throughout the state.

Victorians can also phone the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

People will need to bring some form of identification as proof of age and a Medicare card to the vaccine appointment.

Anyone who is aged below 40 and has an underlying health condition, or who care-gives for someone who is eligible to receive the vaccine, can book a Pfizer jab but must have medical clearance from a GP.

ATAGI recommends the Pfizer vaccine as the preferred vaccine for those aged 16 to 59 years.

Those aged above 59 can only receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.