AstraZeneca now recommended for people aged over 60 as clotting case surge sparks rethink
Government now only recommends AstraZeneca for over 60s – after advice from the nation’s drug regulator, death of 52-year-old woman, and 12 severe cases in a week.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is now only recommended for people aged over 60 after new advice from the nation’s immunisation regulator.
Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed on Thursday the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine be administered to people aged over 60.
He said the Federal government would immediately open access to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for Australians aged 40-59, accepting ATAGI’s “strong, clear advice” as it had done throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, but insisted Australia remained on track to offer all eligible Australians a vaccine by the end of the year.
“What we also know is that, for those who are in the 50 to 59 group, it is a change, and we recognise that that does bring some challenges,” he said.
“They will now have access to the Pfizer that they do need, and we ask for their patience whilst the general practices are rolled out.”
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A dozen new cases
At least 60 Australians developed a rare syndrome after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine over the past two months which led to a decision which now recommends the vaccine only to those aged 60 years and over.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said new information had revealed 12 new cases of a “rare but sometimes very serious clotting condition” linked to AstraZeneca in the past week.
He reassured Australians “every single death” following a Covid-19 vaccine was being reviewed, but only two had been directly linked to the jab.
He urged Australians over 50 who have already received an AstraZeneca jab to go ahead with their second dose.
“I can imagine that this news could cause concern,” Professor Paul Kelly said.
“Anyone who has had a first dose of AstraZeneca without problem should keep that booking for the second dose. We have not had a single case of this rare problem after a second dose,” he added.
It is understood that 12 Australians have suffered from the rare clotting effect over the past week, seven of which were aged between 50 to 59.
“That’s been the key new information that has gone to ATAGI, and they’ve based that (their advice) on the risk-benefit equation. Now, the risks are outweighing the benefits in that particular age group,” he said.
Professor Kelly confirmed 45 per cent of Australians who suffered from the effect are yet to leave hospital, some of whom are in intensive care and two of whom died.
The threat was far less serious from the second dose, and ATAGI still “strongly recommended” the roughly 815,000 Australians who had already received one dose to complete their vaccination.
“If you’ve had the first dose, make sure you get your second dose. My father had AstraZeneca last week, and I’ll be advising him to go ahead and get that second dose,” Professor Kelly said.
Pfizer now preferred for under 60s
Pfizer was now the preferred vaccine for people aged 50 to 60, and access to the jab would “immediately” open to the 29 to 40 age range, or 2.1m people.
But Mr Hunt urged Australians not to hold off for the Pfizer jab if they remained eligible for AstraZeneca.
“If you are in an eligible group: please do not wait. (It) couldn’t be a simpler, clearer message,” he said.
Mr Hunt confirmed the government wanted any delivery of the 40m secured Pfizer doses brought forward if possible, but conceded it faced a “difficult, challenging global situation”.
Covid-19 Taskforce Commander Lieutenant General John Frewen said 2.3 Pfizer doses were “readily at hand” and another 3.4m would be available by the end of July.
“So from a logistics perspective, this is a relatively minor adjustment for us,” he said.
“Of course, there will be a couple of weeks of adjustment of just getting that cohort organised and perhaps switching over to Pfizer, but we can and will accommodate this.”
Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy said “we are picking up more cases of this condition than just about anyone in the world”, and that the decision was reached after painstaking deliberations.
“I can tell you that an expert panel of medical experts and consumers and others spent about 24 hours agonising over all these issues,” he said.
Professor Murphy warned those aged over 70 faced a mortality rate of more than 10 per cent if they contracted Covid-19, urging them against avoiding their vaccination.
He conceded Thursday’s development “may have some impact” on vaccine hesitancy, but was counterbalanced by the government’s “transparent” approach.
He said vaccine hesitancy was a concern in the affected age bracket regardless of Thursday’s development.
“There are a number of people … who have been very hesitant and were probably not going to turn up for AstraZeneca, no matter how much we reassured them,” he said.
The vaccine was only being given to those aged over 50 after ATAGI advice highlighted concerns over its links to blood clotting in younger people.
Government officials had been locked in talks on Thursday morning over the advice, which was given to them on Wednesday.
Professor Kelly said the high number of AstraZeneca doses secured by the federal government made it vital to the country’s path out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It remains an incredibly and extremely important part of our vaccine rollout,” he said.
WA Pfizer rollout faces halt
Western Australia’s rollout of Pfizer vaccines to 30-to-40-year-olds could be halted as the state responds to the news that people between the ages of 50 and 60 will no longer receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
WA last week became the first state to open up Pfizer vaccines to the 30-40-year-old bracket as part of an effort to accelerate slow levels of vaccination uptake. The change prompted a flurry of activity, with more than 100,000 appointments made since then.
But WA Premier Mark McGowan this morning said that the proposed change in eligibility criteria for the AstraZeneca vaccine – which has been linked to several cases of blood clots – was likely to spark an increase in vaccinations among the 50 to 60-year-old cohort and place pressure on the state’s ability to extend to program to those in their 30s.
The federal government has spruiked vaccine sovereignty as key to Australia’s plans, having secured a deal to produce 50 million AstraZeneca doses onshore.
But that plan was thrown into disarray in April when ATAGI recommended AstraZeneca be administered primarily to people aged over 50.
“We expect that this will require some changes to the arrangements we have as part of the vaccination rollout,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at the time.
There was confusion in the 48 hours after the advice, with Mr Morrison a day later clarifying no blanket ban had been implemented on the vaccine, which he described as “lifesaving”.
“It is not a prohibition on the AstraZeneca vaccine, it recommends and notes that the risk of these side effects are remote. They are very rare,” he said in April.
“There was no instruction not to take that vaccine. There is an acknowledgment of the risk that is there, but as is the case always with these matters, these are decisions for Australians.”
Mr Morrison rejected suggestions vaccine confidence had been irreparably damaged by the revelations.
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