NT vaccine rollout in chaos amid AstraZeneca declaration
NT health officials are scrambling to overhaul the vaccine rollout amid the latest warning from Scott Morrison that the jab wasn’t recommended for persons aged under 50.
Northern Territory
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HEALTH officials are scrambling to overhaul the Northern Territory’s vaccine rollout after Scott Morrison on Thursday night warned under 50s not to get the AstraZeneca jab.
The latest news that AstraZeneca has the minuscule but dangerous complication of blood clotting will mean yet more delays to the rollout, which is nearly 3 million doses behind schedule nationwide.
Speaking in front of Parliament House on Friday, NT health minister Natasha Fyles refused to say how significant the delays would be, but warned there would be impacts to the rollout of jabs to vulnerable Aboriginal communities.
“We had hoped to roll out vaccinations in remote communities through April,” Ms Fyles said.
“We will now worth through a number of factors, not only the storage and the transportation, but the dosage of the vaccine,” she said.
“The Commonwealth government will now provide advice around what vaccinations we can see, and we’ll work through how we can safely deliver the appropriate vaccine to Territorians no matter where they live.”
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The AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been plagued by concerns of blood clotting side effects, is easier to roll out to remote communities because it doesn’t need to be stored extremely low temperatures unlike the Pfizer jab, which needs to be kept at -70C until use.
Ms Fyles was unable to say how long it would take for authorities to implement a new rollout plan.
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The AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been plagued by concerns of blood clotting side effects, is easier to roll out to remote communities because it doesn’t need to be stored at extremely low temperatures, unlike the Pfizer jab.
Northern Territory Government vaccine lead Michelle McKay said approximately 3,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been administered in the Territory, making up a quarter of the 12,000 jabs administered in the NT overall.
Ms McKay said relaxed rules around the storage of the Pfizer vaccine, announced on Thursday by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, could potentially assist the speediness of the rollout.
“We are able to move the Pfizer for specific distances and under particular circumstances, and this might give us a little bit more flexibility in that way,” she said.
The rule changes mean Pfizer batches can now be stored at temperatures as high as -15C for two weeks before use, rather than strictly at -70C as stipulated previously.
By comparison, the AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at between 2C and 8C.
Ms McKay said a new plan for rolling out vaccines to Territorians would be put together after a meeting with all states, territories and the Commonwealth yesterday afternoon.
“That will give us the first piece of information that we need to look at what that recalibrated plan looks like,” she said.
“It will take us some time.”
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