COVID-19: TGA approves Pfizer vaccine
The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be given to priority groups from the end of February as Australia battles global supply chain issues slightly slowing the early roll out.
NSW
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The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be given to priority groups from the end of February as Australia battles global supply chain issues slightly slowing the early roll out.
The vaccine has been approved for use in all Australians over the age of 16, but specific clinical advice will be developed for doctors to decide when to give it to the extremely frail and elderly, as well as pregnant women.
It came as NSW reported another day of no locally transmitted cases of COVID-19. Three cases were recorded in hotel quarantine.
The first vaccine shipment of a minimum 80,000 doses of the Pfizer jab will arrive in late February, which is about two weeks later than hoped due to global supply problems.
The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine to priority groups including quarantine workers, health, aged care workers and residents would then begin immediately.
Pending approval from the TGA, the first shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine from overseas are due to arrive early March, though in smaller quantities than initially planned due to supply issues.
Australian health officials will start to receive the first batches of AstraZeneca vaccine produced domestically by the end March at an expected volume of one million doses per week.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the federal government’s goal of administering four million doses of the vaccine by the end of March has been pushed out to April due to issues with the international supply of both Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.
The TGA said the vaccine had been shown to prevent COVID-19 disease, however it was not known if it prevented asymptomatic transmission.
The vaccine has been provisionally approved in individuals 16 years and older.
“Provisional approval of this vaccine is valid for two years and means it can now be legally supplied in Australia,” the TGA statement said.
“The approval is subject to certain strict conditions, such as the requirement for Pfizer to continue providing information to the TGA on longer term efficacy and safety from ongoing clinical trials and post-market assessment.”
The TGA said Australians could be “confident” its review process was “rigorous and of the highest standard”
“The TGA will continue to actively monitor the safety of the Pfizer vaccine both in Australia and overseas and will not hesitate to take action if safety concerns are identified.”
The PM said the TGA approval was an important step in the fight against COVID-19.
“I welcome the TGA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine, with our own Australian experts finding it is safe, effective and of a high standard,” he said.
“Australians should take confidence in the thorough and careful approach taken by our world-class safety regulator.
“Our priority has always been to keep Australians safe and protect lives and livelihoods. Today’s approval is another big step forward for our community, particularly in the protection of our most vulnerable people.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the-world class regulators at the TGA have been working tirelessly to introduce a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in Australia.
“The TGA’s processes are I believe the best in the world and we have ensured that they are thorough,” he said.
“The TGA has placed safety above all else.
“This approval and the upcoming roll out of the vaccine will play an important part in our ability to manage the pandemic in 2021.”
BORDER OPENING HINGES ON SHOT
Meanwhile, Health Minister Greg Hunt says the government is confident of getting its pre-ordered 10 million vaccine doses but says there will be immense competition.
Any delay in the coronavirus vaccine rollout will stall Australia’s border reopening, say health experts, as the federal government dismisses concerns about a global shortage of the Pfizer jab.
Governments around the world are battling to secure supply of the highly effective Pfizer/BioNTech jab, fuelling concerns Australia will drop back in the queue before its first shipments are due to arrive next month.
But a spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government had anticipated “immense competition” for vaccines “early on” and was confident its order of 10 million doses would be fulfilled on schedule.
“Subject to safety, it is proceeding at the fastest possible pace for a decision based on a full and thorough assessment, with safety as the number one and overriding priority,” he said.
Pfizer has advised Canada it would not receive any more vaccine this week, while the UK has decided to stretch out the time between the first and second dose to 12 weeks in an effort to cover more people.
But the pharmaceutical giant warned there was no evidence the vaccine would continue to provide protection if the gap between doses was longer than three weeks.
Any delay in the vaccine rollout would push Australia’s reopening of international borders, slated for 2022, even further back.
Infectious diseases physician Nick Coatsworth said health officials would wait and see how the rollout went domestically before considering reopening to the world.
“The strategy is to observe exactly what happens with the vaccine rollout and make decisions based on that and I think it would be premature to be making decisions on our quarantine regime,” he said.
Australia is also finalising its plans to rollout the AstraZeneca jab, including 3.8m doses purchased directly from the pharmaceutical company and a further 50m being produced domestically by Melbourne-based company CSL. The government expects supply from both would be available by March.
TRAVEL INDUSTRY ON VERGE OF ‘EXTINCTION’
Australia’s travel industry is on the verge of collapse, with up to 40,000 people set to be left unemployed without urgent intervention, a new study reveals.
A survey of the country’s 3000 travel agents found just one in 10 will survive beyond April 1 without targeted assistance or an extension of the JobKeeper scheme.
The industry has been decimated by ongoing border closures, with 95 per cent of businesses reporting a decline in revenue of between 70 and 90 per cent.
Despite a federal government rescue package, almost all businesses said it failed to hit the mark because of its complicated structure. Sixty-five per cent of travel agents surveyed said they missed out on funding.
“We‘re all small business owners, we believe in personal responsibility but this situation we find ourselves in has nothing to do with us,” Right Directions travel agency owner Jennifer Gorrie said. “The government has removed my ability to earn a living and they need to compensate me for this.”
Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said immediate action was needed.
“We are talking here of ... the extinction of an entire industry,” he said. “You cannot have a policy that bans international travel for the entirety of 2021 and then offer limited or no support to an industry that cannot trade under the rules you have created”.
Federal Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan said more than 800 travel agents had received $33m in support payments since December.
COVID-19 FOUND IN WASTEWATER
A raft of Sydney suburbs have been urged to get tested for coronavirus after traces of the deadly virus were found in sewage.
Fragments of the virus were detected at treatment plants at Liverpool, Warriewood and North Head, the NSW Health Department said on Sunday.
The Liverpool plant includes a catchment of about 180,000 people from suburbs including Bardia, Hinchinbrook, Hoxton Park, Abbotsbury, Ingleburn, Prestons, Holsworthy and Edmondson Park.
“NSW Health urges everyone living or working in these suburbs to monitor for symptoms and get tested and isolate immediately if they appear,” a statement warned.
The Warriewood plant services about 70,000 people from the northern beaches while the North Head facility takes in a catchment of 1.3 million people from Sydney, north of the Parramatta River from western Sydney to Manly.
These detections “likely reflect” known confirmed cases in these areas, the health department said.
But it urged anyone who lives or works in the area to watch for symptoms and get tested as well as isolate if they appear.
The detections come as New South Wales recorded a week without a new, locally acquired infection of the virus.
Three cases were recorded from overseas travellers in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, according to the health department.
The results come from 11,344 tests taken in that period with people showing even mild symptoms urged to get a test.
“High testing rates are necessary to give confidence that no cases are going undetected in the community,” NSW Health’s Dr Christine Selvey said.
LIVERPOOL TREATMENT PLANT SUBURBS
Bardia, Hinchinbrook, Hoxton Park, Abbotsbury, Ingleburn, Prestons, Holsworthy, Edmondson Park, Austral, Cecil Park, Cecil Hills, Elizabeth Hills, Bonnyrigg Heights, Edensor Park, Green Valley, Pleasure Point, Casula, Hammondville, Liverpool, Moorebank, Wattle Grove, Miller, Cartwright, Lurnea, Warwick Farm, Chipping Norton, Voyager Point, Macquarie Links, Glenfield, Catherine Field, Gledswood Hills, Varroville, Leppington, West Hoxton, Horningsea Park, Middleton Grange, Len Waters Estate, Carnes Hill and Denham Court.
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