Coronavirus Live news Australia: Scott Morrison gets the jab ’Covid comeback’ begins
After becoming one of the first Australians to receive the Pfizer jab today, Scott Morrison says tens of thousands will be vaccinated over the coming week.
- Thumbs up from PM after Covid jab
- ‘Historic’ COVID-19 vaccination program to begin tomorrow
- Vaccination delays could bring more virus variants
- Ignore the anti-vaxxers, Australians told
- G7 leaders commit $7.5bn to fund vaccines for the poor
Welcome to The Weekend Australian’s live rolling coverage of the coronavirus crisis.
Scott Morrison is among the first Australians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Sydney today in a bid to provide confidence the jab is safe.
Australians will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines from 9am tomorrow in a program Health Minister Greg Hunt has called “one of the most important public health initiatives in our nation’s history”. Health authorities have slammed misinformation being spread by anti-vaxxers, following 11 separate protests across the country yesterday which saw more than a dozen arrests. Meanwhile, global leaders at the G7 summit have agreed to donate $7.5bn to fund vaccines for developing nations so they do not fall behind.
Ellie Dudley11pm: AI test ‘gives results with eight minutes’
A Canadian company has revealed plans to release a rapid COVID-19 test using Artificial Intelligence.
Laipac Technology, in Ontario has teamed up with UAE companies YAS Pharmaceuticals LLC and Pure Health LLC, to create the world-first test, which issues results within eight minutes.
The “LooK SPOT” test uses a nasal sample collected from the nostril. Artificial Intelligence technology then delivers a real-time test result with 97.4 per cent sensitivity and 98.3 per cent specificity in detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
It can also detect new variants of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The test connects to a smartphone app, through which patients can receive their test results. Negative results generate a QR code on the app which may be used as a pass to enter a facility, events, gatherings or used for transport facilities.
The LooK SPOT test will be showcased at IDEX 2021 Abu Dhabi between 21-25 February.
READ MORE: Rollout battling ‘way-out theories’
Ellie Dudley10.20pm:Mutant cases fall in UK
The number of cases of South African and Brazilian COVID-19 variants in the UK appears to be falling, the British health secretary says.
Matt Hancock confirmed that improved contact-tracing measures and stricter border rules were helping to control the number of people infected by the mutant variants.
“The good news is, the actions that we’re taking right now do appear to be working,” he told Sky News on Sunday night.
However, Mr Hancock warned the vaccines may not wipe out the new variants.
“If one of these new variants doesn’t respond to the vaccines... then that’s obviously a very serious risk in the vaccination program,” he said.
“We are doing a lot of work to find out the impact of the vaccine on these new variants, especially the one discovered in Brazil and South Africa, because clearly knowing the answer to that question is critical to understanding how much of a risk the new variants pose.”
READ MORE:First shot in final Covid battle
Jamie Walker9.40pm: Frontline focus on critical protection
John Gerrard is only hours from getting the COVID-19 jab, and not before time.
If anyone knows how dangerous the virus is, it is him.
As director of infectious diseases at the Gold Coast University Hospital, Professor Gerrard confronted the country’s first cluster in January last year before the disease even had a name.
A 44-year-old Chinese tourist from Wuhan, sick with flu-like symptoms, had presented at the hospital and the alarm bells were ringing.
Another holidaymaker from the hotzone in central China had tested positive in Melbourne that week, but the case on the Gold Coast was even more worrying.
The man had been travelling with his wife, son and two other Wuhan families, nine people all up. Australian doctors were still divided about how serious the threat was, some insisting talk of a pandemic was premature.
Professor Gerrard was sure of two things: the virus was highly contagious and there were probably many more cases in China than Beijing was owning up to. After discussions with Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, he decided to bring all nine in the group into isolation at the hospital. Six of them turned out to be infected.
Anton Nilsson 8.55pm:Baby boom expected after lockdown
Australian health officials expect a baby boom in Victoria as a result of the state’s second-wave lockdown.
Despite the social distancing requirements of the coronavirus age, Victorians clearly got intimate during the 16-week lockdown last year.
“I only know the statistics from Victoria, but I know there is a baby boom coming,” federal chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan told NCA NewsWire.
“There‘s going to be a big boom in babies, particularly from the second-wave lockdown in Victoria.
“The maternity wards are already (bracing for it),” she continued.
People who got pregnant during Victoria’s July to October lockdown will have their babies between April and July this year.
A person who works at Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said there was anecdotal evidence that maternity ward bookings corresponding with that time frame had increased at public hospitals.
But the state’s largest private hospital group, Epworth HealthCare, said the only baby boom they’re seeing is going on right now, with more maternity ward bookings than usual in February and March.
Epworth Freemasons had 275 maternity bookings for February, 20 per cent more than the same month last year.
The same hospital has 300 bookings for March, 26 per cent more than last year.
Bookings for the April-July period were only slightly up, a spokesman said.
“Normally, we see an increase in birth numbers in September and October. The booking numbers show there is definitely a post lockdown baby boom happening at Epworth in 2021 and we can’t wait,” Papa Xuereb, nurse unit manager of the post-natal ward at Victoria’s Epworth Freemasons said, referring to the February-March increase.
Asked if she thought the baby boom was a result of lockdown love between roommates, or couples who figured it was a good time to have a baby, Ms McMillan laughed and said: “We’ll leave that to somebody else (to answer).”
Ms McMillan was among the first Australians to receive a dose of coronavirus vaccine over the weekend.
She rolled up her sleeve during a visit to Sydney’s Castle Hill Medical Centre on Sunday alongside the Prime Minister, the federal chief medical officer and a handful of aged care residents and emergency workers.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, who was also at the clinic, said earlier on Sunday that while the coronavirus vaccines that were going to be available to Australians were considered safe, people who were pregnant should contact their doctor beforehand.
“Breastfeeding mums, they should feel free to take the vaccines, women who are considering being pregnant, they should feel free to take the vaccine,” Mr Hunt told ABC’s Insiders program.
“And for those women who are pregnant, that’s the appropriate time to consult your doctor, which is generally the case with most vaccines.
“But at any time, anybody should feel free to speak with their doctor, speak with their health professionals or go to one of the government websites.
“They are the best place to get your information, but nothing beats – if you do have any questions - talking with your GP.
“Our GPs are the cornerstone of the national vaccine rollout, but they’re also our trusted source of high-quality information.”
READ MORE: Vaccine ads pulled from Facebook
Angelica Snowden8.15pm: ‘We’re ready to go’: trained staff have been waiting for this
After a three hour-wait, it took 68 seconds for pharmacists at Melbourne’s Monash Medical Centre to dig their first COVID jabs out from dry ice and place them in a -80C freezer before Monday’s vaccination effort gets under way.
The first 5000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were delivered by courier to the hospital in Clayton in Melbourne’s southeast on Sunday about 2pm. It was the moment infectious diseases expert and head of the centre’s COVID response Rhonda Stuart had been waiting for.
“I didn’t realise there would be so much excitement … we have been working really hard on this for the last few weeks — long hours in preparation,” Professor Stuart said. “It’s quite amazing really that it has only been a year since we saw that first patient.
“That’s amazing for science … we now have a vaccine.”
First Pfizer vaccines arrive at Monash Medical Centre, Clayton @australianpic.twitter.com/Ifgcj3Iqp5
— Angelica Snowden (@ang3snowden) February 21, 2021
Agencies7.35pm:WHO chief calls on Tanzania to combat Covid
The head of the World Health Organization on Sunday appealed to Tanzania to take “robust action” to combat COVID-19 in the country, where the President has long played down the virus.
President John Magufuli has claimed coronavirus has been has fended off by prayer in Tanzania, and refused to take measures to curb its spread.
But a recent spate of deaths attributed to pneumonia has struck both members of the public and government officials.
Mr Magufuli appeared to admit the coronavirus was circulating in his country on Friday after months of denial.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a number of Tanzanians travelling to neighbouring countries and beyond have tested positive for the coronavirus.
“This underscores the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond,” he said on Sunday.
Mr Tedros said he had urged Tanzania late last month to take measures against the pandemic and to prepare for vaccinations.
“Since then I have spoken with several authorities in Tanzania but WHO is yet to receive any information regarding what measures Tanzania is taking to respond to the pandemic.
Papaya, quail and goat
“This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data.
“I also call on Tanzania to implement the public health measures that we know work in breaking the chains of transmission, and to prepare for vaccination.”
The country last gave case figures in April last year, reporting 509 infections. At the same time Mr Magufuli revealed he had secretly had a variety of items tested for the virus — of which a papaya, a quail and a goat apparently tested positive.
On Wednesday, the Vice-President of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, died after his opposition party admitted he had contracted coronavirus.
The head of the civil service, John Kijazi, also died on Wednesday. The cause of death has not been revealed. But Mr Magufuli brought up COVID-19 at his funeral.
“When this respiratory disease erupted last year, we won because we put God first and took other measures. I’m sure we will win again if we do so this time around,” he said.
However, dissent is mounting within the country to the government’s position on the pandemic.
On Saturday, the Tanzania Law Society became the first professional body to call on the government to openly recognise the virus and take adequate measures.
READ MORE:‘We’re ready to go’: trained staff have been waiting for this
Stephen Lunn 7.05pm:Old friends to get out and about after vaccine
Fay Harris, 84, is keen for the twice weekly outings from her nursing home in Sydney’s south to resume. With aged-care residents so vulnerable to COVID, they stopped during 2020 and haven’t started again.
Her friend Julie Rankin, 67, is also in the home due to Alzheimer’s. A keen knitter, she is looking to again feeling safe enough to go and buy wool from the store down the road in Engadine.
Fay and Julie will be among the nation’s first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the Moran Aged Care facility in Engadine beginning to roll out its vaccination program from Monday.
Paige Taylor 6.15pm:McGowan’s Labor makes pitch for conservative vote
West Australian premier Mark McGowan has launched the Labor Party’s state election campaign to a rapturous applause and his signature AC/DC theme song Thunderstruck, a day after Newspoll showed his government is on track to annihilate the WA Liberal Party like never before.
The slick launch to party faithful included a presidential-campaign style video about Mr McGowan narrated by Mr McGowan. Projected onto big screens, the video began with old photos of the phenomenally-popular premier as a young navy lawyer and pictures of Mr McGowan with his wife Sarah and their children. NSW-born Mr McGowan said he could never have imagined what WA had in store for him when he moved to the state 30 years ago. In the video, Mr McGowan said raising his family “is the most important thing I will ever do”.
WA Labor is cashed up and predicted to take control of both houses of parliament on March 13. Newspoll — conducted after Perth and surrounds were locked down for five days because a hotel security guard contracted coronavirus — found there would be a 12.5 per cent swing to the McGowan government if an election was held today. That could leave the WA Libera
Anna Smolchenko, Amelie Baubeau5.30pm:H5N8 avian flu found in humans
Russia says its scientists have detected the world’s first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organisation.
In televised remarks, the head of Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said on Sunday AEDT that scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain’s genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December.
The workers did not suffer any serious health consequences, she added. They are believed to have caught the virus from poultry on the farm.
“Information about the world’s first case of transmission of the avian flu (H5N8) to humans has already been sent to the World Health Organisation,” Dr Popova said.
There are different subtypes of avian influenza viruses.
While the highly contagious strain H5N8 is lethal for birds, it had never before been reported to have spread to humans.
Dr Popova praised “the important scientific discovery”, saying “time will tell” if the virus can further mutate.
Jack Paynter 4.45pm: Cops ‘very sorry’ for arresting journalists
Victoria Police has apologised after a journalist and photographer were arrested while reporting on an anti-vaccination protest in Melbourne on Saturday.
Herald Sun reporter Olivia Jenkins and senior photographer Jake Nowakowski were led away by police in handcuffs as anti-vax demonstrators clashed with officers at Fawkner Park.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, a police spokeswoman said the force was “very sorry” the two were caught up in the incident and confirmed they would not be fined.
“In the past 12-months months, Victoria Police has seen an increase in hostile and at times violent protests throughout the state,” the statement read.
“(Saturday’s) protest at Fawkner Park was no different and during a very dynamic situation, a journalist and photographer were caught up with the protesters and arrested.
“To be clear, it is not our intention to arrest journalists who are simply doing their job.
“We understand and appreciate the important role media play reporting on news events such as this and we are generally only too willing to assist them with their requests.
“However, the reality is we have seen an increased number of protesters claim to be media in order to actively avoid police enforcement.”
Victoria Police said the journalist and photographer were placed under arrest until their identity could be verified.
“We are very sorry the journalist and photographer got caught up in this incident. Our focus is always to keep the community safe and maintain public order,” the statement continued.
“We have since spoken to the relevant media outlet to explain why the police action occurred and reaffirm those involved would not be fined.
Max Maddison4.40pm:Australia’s first Pfizer vaccine recipient
In an unassuming medical centre in Castle Hill, Polish immigrant Jane Malysiak, 84, became the first Australian to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. With the broader rollout beginning on Monday, the federal government hopes 60,000 Australians will be inoculated by the end of the week.
Seventy years after she moved to Australia, Ms Malysiak said she never expected to become part of the country’s history, but felt for her sons who didn’t know she would be the first Australian to receive the vaccination.
“I just thought they would do the jab and take two pictures and that would be it. My poor boys, they don’t know that I’m here today, so when they put the TV on they’ll be shocked,” Ms Malysiak told The Australian.
Her vaccination sparked applause from the watching journalists, cameraman and health workers who were gathered to witness the monumental occasion.
The aged care resident was joined by Scott Morrison who also received the jab on Sunday, along with chief medical officer Paul Kelly and chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan, to inspire confidence in the national COVID immunisation program.
Sarah Toy 4.25pm:Vaccination delays could bring more virus variants
Scientists say the world has reached a precarious point in the Covid-19 pandemic, one where conditions are ripe for the rise of more new coronavirus variants that could complicate efforts to control the disease.
The virus continues to spread rapidly in many parts of the world, even as segments of the population have gained some degree of immunity as a result of having been infected or vaccinated.
Scientists say that combination – high rates of viral transmission and a partially immunised population – encourages the emergence of variants that are potentially more transmissible or more lethal. More transmission means more opportunities for the virus to evolve, they say.
AFP4.00pm:Pfizer jab 95.8% effective: Israel health ministry
Israel’s health ministry says recent data from its aggressive coronavirus vaccination campaign showed two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab were nearly 96 percent effective against infection.
Israel’s inoculation campaign is regarded as the world’s fastest, with one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine administered to 4.25 million people out of its nine million-strong population since December, according to the latest health ministry figures.
Some 2.88 million people have received the recommended full course of two jabs. The health ministry said on Saturday the vaccine had proved 95.8 percent effective in preventing coronavirus infection among those vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second shot compared to unvaccinated people, according to data compiled up to February 13.
It added the jab was 99.2 percent effective against serious illness and 98.9 percent effective in preventing death.
READ MORE: ‘US will have heard immunity by April’
Janet Albrechtsen 3.25pm:We’re at risk of being Little Australia
Asked to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the election of the Howard government next month, Alexander Downer doesn’t disappoint: “Missing us yet?”
Undoubtedly, it’s been a long time between drinks. But the foreign minister during the Howard era doesn’t want to reflect on the past. Downer is one of very few former political leaders willing to speak frankly about our self-congratulatory approach to COVID-19. And he is not convinced that our leaders have a sensible exit plan.
Downer returned home to the salubrious Adelaide Hills in December having spent a large part of 2020 in London. He chairs Policy Exchange, one of London’s premier think tanks, and is also the full-time executive chairman of the International School for Government at Kings College London.
Living between London and Adelaide, Downer is struck by the differences. No one can overlook Britain’s tragic COVID-19 death rate, even though questions remain about how that death rate is compiled. By contrast, it is true, says Downer, that Australia has dealt with the virus very well “in the short term in its attempt to try to eradicate COVID”.
Jack Paynter3.00pm:Covid alert issued for Melbourne service station
A service station in Melbourne’s southeast is the latest addition to Victoria’s list of coronavirus public exposure sites.
Coles Express in Bentleigh East was listed as a “tier three” exposure site by the state’s health department on Friday.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 10,339 test results were received. Thank you to those who got tested - #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 20, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/ukXiUJI7zf
The health department said a confirmed case of COVID-19 had visited the petrol station at intersection of East Boundary Road and 21 Ardena Court while infectious.
Anyone who attended the service station between 1pm and 1.40pm on Thursday should monitor for symptoms, get tested if they develop and isolate until they receive a result.
There are now 21 venues on Victoria’s “tier one” public exposure sites list, which requires people to get tested and isolate for 14 days, including the iconic Queen Victoria Market and Melbourne Airport terminal four.
Joseph Lam 2.37pm:Hong Kong, Singapore travel in talks
Negotiations are again underway between Asia’s world city and the lion city as the two nations look to reignite travel bubble plans.
A quarantine-free travel arrangement between Hong Kong and Singapore is under consideration despite an earlier attempt at an arrangement being swiftly binned in November following a COVID-19 case breakout.
Hong Kong’s Tourism Commission and Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority have confirmed the travel bubble is being discussed, reported the South China Morning Post.
“Overseas economies that are relatively stable with the pandemic and have close economic and trade relations with Hong Kong have proposed to explore the establishment of “tourism bubble,” a commission spokesman told the Hong Kong newspaper..
Daniel Ng, the aviation authority’s director of air transport, said the two sides would “announce more details when ready”.
READ MORE: Bleak future for even the most resilient of Hong Kong’s freedom lovers
James Law2.00pm:Awkward moment after first vaccination
The historic moment of the first Australian to be administered the COVID-19 vaccine dissolved into giggles on Sunday when the 86-year-old recipient inadvertently flipped the nation the bird.
Jane Milysiak, of Marayong, was selected to be the first to receive the jab and she did so alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney’s northwest on Sunday morning.
She was all smiles as she received the injection, seated next to Mr Morrison, who wore a face mask emblazoned with the Australian flag.
Like any good politician, Mr Morrison is not one to miss a photo opportunity, so after she received the jab he encouraged her to flash the peace sign for the cameras, saying it meant “V for vaccine”.
After a confused few moments, Jane obliged, but turned her hand the other way, the universal sign for, ahem, “up yours”.
Joseph Lam1.30pm:Woman tests positive in Perth hotel quarantine
A woman in Perth has tested positive to COVID-19 after travelling to Perth from overseas.
The woman, in her 50s, is Western Australia’s 911th COVID-19 case and remains in hotel quarantine.
Western Australia Health is monitoring three active cases of COVID-19 and tested 332 people in the past 24 hours.
Media statement: COVID-19 update 21 February 2021 https://t.co/CH5aYluhFl
— WA Health (@WAHealth) February 21, 2021
The state has recorded a total of 22 cases of COVID-19 variants, 15 of which were the B.1.1.7 strain and seven of which were the B.1.351 strain.
READ MORE: Premier’s wipeout in the West
Joseph Lam1.01pm:Two new virus cases in South Australia
Two new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in South Australia bringing the number of active cases in the state to three.
It is not yet clear whether those cases were locally transmitted or from overseas returned travellers.
South Australian COVID-19 update 21/2/21. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/94OVL4e6Er
— SA Health (@SAHealth) February 21, 2021
South Australia undertook 4330 tests over the past 24 hours bringing the total number of tests to 1,067,502.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, South Australia has had a total of 610 cases.
Meanwhile, the Australian Capital Territory has recorded another COVID-19 case-free day with no new or active cases recorded.
A total of 386 tests were recorded in the past 24 hours bringing forward testing totals to 167,617 in the state.
ACT COVID-19 update (21 February 2021)
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) February 21, 2021
- Cases today: 0
- Active cases: 0
- Total cases: 118
- Recovered: 115
- Lives lost: 3
- Test results (past 24 hours): 386
- Negative tests: 167,617
â„¹ï¸ For more information, visit https://t.co/YGW9pOHG3epic.twitter.com/LiCaH7TvL7
READ MORE: Covid survivors sought to solve reaction puzzle
Joseph Lam12.35pm:‘Averages Joes and Jills the priority for vaccine’: PM
Scott Morrison said the priorities for the COVID-19 vaccines are the “average Joes and Jills” who work in aged care and hotel quarantine.
The Prime Minister on Sunday said aged care and quarantine workers are key in the government’s vaccine strategy.
In a major milestone in our COVID-19 response, around 35,000 quarantine, border and frontline healthcare workers in NSW will be among the first in Australia to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, which begins on Monday 22 February 2021.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 21, 2021
For more info, visit https://t.co/R1Iv18pDRapic.twitter.com/0Bl9QkPsa1
“There are many average Joes and Jills who work in aged care and disability care and who have disabilities and live in aged care facilities or who do hotel quarantine - they are the priorities,” he said.
“The priorities for people working in hotel quarantine are obvious. They are stated in our strategy and that is what we wish to achieve and that is what the Premier seeks to achieve.”
Mr Morrison said he doesn’t believe hesitation toward the vaccines would affect the government’s strategy.
“I am confident that that is not going to be a problem and the Premier is as well,” he said.
“See, I am quite confident about how Australians respond sensibly to these things and I believe, having spoken to some of those working at those facilities, they just want to get started, they want to get on with it.”
After receiving the coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s “Covid comeback” was under way.
“Every day that goes past from here gets more normal and that is what we have started today,” Mr Morrison said on Sunday.
Mr Morrison said the vaccine rollout addressed the greatest fear he had faced as Prime Minister during the pandemic: “widespread fatalities that we saw overseas.”
“Our comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic is under way, and today we have just taken another massive step .”
READ MORE:Plibersek: ‘I don’t like or respect Scott Morrison’
Rosie Lewis12.24pm: Facebook will be used to advertise vaccine rollout: PM
Scott Morrison says his government will be using “all the communication mechanisms” available to it, including Facebook, to advertise its COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
It comes after Health Minister Greg Hunt said neither his office nor his department would advertise on Facebook in the midst of a dispute with the tech giant over the government’s media bargaining code.
Asked by Mr Morrison to comment on the issue, Mr Hunt clarified: “We will continue to provide information (to Australians via Facebook) but what we wouldn’t do in the immediate future is additional paid advertising.”
READ MORE: Hunt bans Facebook ads
Joseph Lam12.21pm:PM announces 60,000 vaccines this week
Scott Morrison says tens of thousands of Australians will be vaccinated over the coming week as Australia rolls out of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The Prime Minister on Sunday received his own vaccination which he said he hopes would demonstrate confidence in the vaccine.
“I wanted them to know as they went to bed tonight that we have been able to demonstrate our confidence in the health and safety of this vaccination,” he said.
“Over the course of this week we hope to see 60,000 vaccinations at 240 different aged-care centres in 190 towns and suburbs around the country, from Alice Springs to Albany to Altona.”
READ MORE: Awkward moment after first vaccination
Joseph Lam12.10pm:Who is first in line to be vaccinated in Queensland
Queensland’s four phase vaccine rollout will begin from Monday with 88,000 aged care workers and 37,000 at risk Australians first in line for the jab.
From Monday, at least 10,000 Queenslanders would be vaccinated with the first jabs administered from Gold Coast Hospital.
The four-phase rollout was outlined by Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young on Sunday.
Sunday 21 February – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) February 20, 2021
• 0 new cases
• 5 active cases
• 1,321 total cases
• 1,908,537 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,309 patients have recovered.#covid19pic.twitter.com/lxfDXfYx20
Phase 1A included 125,000 Australians including aged care and frontline workers. It is understood that phase 1B would include one million Queenslanders aged 70 and over with local GPs able to administer the jab.
Phase 2A will cover 1.3 million people and phase 2B a further 1.5 million Queenslanders, covering anyone who had missed the first three phases.
Dr Young said she hoped every adult aged 18 years and over would be vaccinated by the end of October.
READ MORE: Quest for the jab has one clear winner: you
Joseph Lam12.05pm:The first sites in Queensland to administer Covid jab
Hospitals in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Cairns will be the first sites in Queensland to administer the COVID-19 vaccination.
Vaccinations arrived in Queensland on Sunday with the Gold Coast hospital first in line of the three-hospital queue.
Vaccine update with the Queensland Premier, Health Minister and Chief Health Officer. #covid19https://t.co/Y4E9i05w9C
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) February 21, 2021
Vaccines will be delivered to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Woolloongabba, Brisbane on Wednesday and also in Cairns, in far north Queensland, from Friday.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young said she celebrated the arrival of the vaccines.
“This is what I’ve been hoping for since day one,” she said.
Dr Young said she would be getting her vaccine after frontline workers.
Dr Young said 10,000 doses would arrive this week which may be what had landed in the state on Sunday.
More vaccination hubs would be set up in the state in the following week, Dr Young said.
READ MORE:Pay days amid the pandemic
Joseph Lam12.00pm: Vaccines arrive in Queensland, jabs begin Monday
COVID-19 vaccinations have landed in Queensland with the state set to rollout its first vaccinations from tomorrow.
At about 8.30am on Monday Queensland will administer its first vaccine doses to frontline workers at the Gold Coast hospital.
Queensland Premier Annstacia Palaszczuk said her state has plans for a progressive rollout.
“We will vaccinate 125,000 people over the next six weeks,” she said.
“The rollout of the vaccine will be happening now until the end of October.”
Ms Palaszczuk said she trusts whichever vaccine Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young says is safe.
“If Dr Young says it’s ok to get vaccinated, absolutely I will go and get vaccinated,” she said.
Dr Young said she would be open to any vaccination available.
“I’ll certainly be putting my arm out for whatever vaccine I’m offered,” Dr Young said.
Dr Young said authorities were still learning how the vaccination would omit the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re not quite sure yet what having the vaccine means in terms of spreading the virus,” she said.
“You start getting protection right from the word go.”
READ MORE:Nurses ‘excited’ to get COVID-19 jab
Joseph Lam11.50am: NSW records three new virus cases
NSW has recorded three news cases of COVID-19 among overseas returned travellers.
On a brighter note, Sunday marks NSW’s 35th day without a locally-transmitted case of COVID-19.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired and three new overseas-acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,960.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 21, 2021
There were 13,586 tests reported to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/0pRrkfMyq3
The three news cases were found among the 13,586 tests recorded to 8pm last night. NSW has seen 4960 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic from a total of 4,914,092 tests.
READ MORE: Dash from lockdowns fires up housing market
Rosie Lewis 11.30am:Thumbs up from the PM after Covid jab
Scott Morrison has given a “thumbs up” and “V” sign for ‘vaccine’ after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 jab in Sydney.
Upon rolling up his sleeve to get the vaccination, the Prime Minister joked: “You all thought there’d be tatts there.”
He did a COVID-safe elbow handshake with Health Minister Greg Hunt after being vaccinated.
Rosie Lewis11.15am:Aged care resident receives first Pfizer vaccine
An aged care resident called Jane has received Australia’s first COVID-19 vaccine in Sydney, while sitting next to Scott Morrison.
Scott Morrison meets Jane, Australia’s first recipient of the COVID vaccine, on “a historic day for the country†@australianpic.twitter.com/643vvylGq8
— Max Maddison (@maxmaddison) February 21, 2021
Jane was immunised at the Castle Hill medical centre with the Pfizer jab shortly after 11am to great applause.
The Prime Minister said he was getting the vaccine on Sunday to give Australians a sense of confidence.
The second Australian to receive the jab was John Healy, 86.
Mr Healy said the vaccine wasn’t painful. “It’s alright, you hardly know you’re getting it,” he said.
John Healy, 86, received the second vaccine, “It’s alright, you hardly know you’re getting it.†pic.twitter.com/AJ3Pop1TNp
— Max Maddison (@maxmaddison) February 21, 2021
11.13am: WATCH: Morrison to get vaccine jab
Scott Morrison is visiting Castle Hill Medical Centre, in Sydney’s north-west, to receive the coronavirus vaccine jab.
You can watch live here:
Staff writers11.00am:Vaccine rollout to boost business confidence
The start of the nation’s vaccine rollout today will provide a much-needed shot in the arm for business confidence, says Business Council chief Jennifer Westacott.
But the government needs to ensure a greater opening up of the economy in tandem with the jab scheme if Australia is to get back on its feet, she said.
“We have to make sure that we are releasing more and more of the economy as the vaccine rolls out, and that we are working towards that nationally consistent system for how you manage local lockdowns, local outbreaks,” Ms Westacott told Sky News on Sunday.
The BCA is pushing for a nationally consistent system for managing quarantine that would prevent snap lockdowns like the one in Victoria last week.
READ MORE:Antisocial Victorian lockdown decision ‘cost regions millions’
Joseph Lam10.36am:Wellington next in NZ Covid jab line
New Zealand will vaccinate frontline and border workers in its capital city from Monday as the island nation continues the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccinations.
The country’s vaccination rollout officially began on Saturday for quarantine workers and managed isolation staff however about 29 staff who will administer the vaccine received theirs on Friday, after completing a week of preparations in Auckland.
The rollout takes place less than a week after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in New Zealand.
New Zealand Ministry of Health director-general Ashley Bloomfield called it the “biggest single logistical exercise our health system has ever tackled”.
“On Monday, we’ll roll out the programme in Wellington and then Christchurch on Wednesday, before starting to vaccinate the rest of New Zealand’s about 12,000 border and MIQ workers over the next few weeks,” she said.
“Once they’ve been vaccinated, we’ll start vaccinating the members of their household contacts.”
Dr Bloomfied said while vaccinations for the greater public hadn’t yet been announced.
“The finer details of the wider public roll out later in the year are being finalised and information on when and how people can get their vaccinations will be announced soon.”
READ MORE: ‘Thank you Chima, the card’s in the mail’
Joseph Lam10.25am:Zero cases of COVID-19 in Queensland
Queensland has recorded zero new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours to 8pm.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the state has recorded 1321 cases, five of which remain active.
Queensland has recorded 5085 tests, bringing the total to 1,908,537.
READ MORE:Queensland reinstates border passes for Victoria
Rosie Lewis10.17am:Health Minister stops Facebook advertising following dispute
Health Minister Greg Hunt says neither his office nor his department will advertise on Facebook after the tech giant blocked Australians from accessing news on its platform.
Facebook was also forced to apologise for temporarily taking down some state public health accounts and those of charities and other government organisations as retaliation for the Morrison government’s media bargaining code, which is due to be legislated within days.
“I spoke to my office to make sure on Thursday that we were not doing that. I will check that my department is not but on my watch, until this issue is resolved, there will not be Facebook advertising,” Mr Hunt said on the ABC’s Insiders program.
“I will reaffirm that with the secretary today but we’ve already done that with my office and I reaffirmed yesterday that there has been none commissioned or instituted since this dispute arose. I’ve got to say basically you have corporate titans acting as sovereign bullies and they won’t get away with it.”
READ MORE: Facebook: what’s the alternative?
Angelica Snowden9.50am:Second day of zero Covid cases in Victoria
Victoria has reported no new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row, out of more than 10,000 tests.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 10,339 test results were received. Thank you to those who got tested - #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 20, 2021
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/ukXiUJI7zf
It came after three locally acquired cases were recorded on Friday, all linked with the Holiday Inn outbreak which sent the state into a snap five-day lockdown.
There are 22 cases linked with the quarantine hotel.
No locally acquired cases were reported on Saturday.
READ MORE:Lay off Victoria, it’s still bleeding
Rosie Lewis9.29am:Morrison to get COVID-19 jab in Sydney today
Scott Morrison will be among the first Australians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Sydney today - ahead of the formal rollout on Monday - in a bid to provide confidence the jab is safe.
The Prime Minister will be joined by Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and chief nursing and midwifery officer Alison McMillan, along with a small group of aged care residents, staff and frontline pandemic workers.
Anthony Albanese is due to receive his vaccine this week.
Asked if Mr Morrison was “jumping the queue”, Health Minister Greg Hunt told the ABC’s Insiders program: “There was a very strong focus on the need for key leaders, not the parliament, not the cabinet, not even the leadership group, but a cross-party group, to provide that confidence (to Australians).
“That has been a view in many places around the world.”
READ MORE: Firms can force customers to prove vaccination
Terry McCrann8.45am:Countries paying huge difference in vaccine costs
I doubt that many, if any, of you know — I certainly didn’t — that there is a huge difference in what countries are paying for the vaccines. How huge? This huge: the EU is getting its AstraZeneca vaccines for just $US2.15 a dose; the US is paying $US19.50 a dose for its Pfizer doses. Other prices range from $US3-$US4 being paid by the UK and the US for AstraZeneca out to around $US15 per dose.
How do I now know? Thanks to an article in The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal).
How does The BMJ know? Because, and I quote: “Belgium’s budget secretary inadvertently revealed the EU’s negotiated prices for every major vaccine on Twitter.”
Ah, you gotta love those tweeting idiots.
You’ve also got to NOT love those EU bureaucrats; and I quote again: “The EU had undertaken to keep the prices confidential in return for discounts”.
Translated: for a discount, we, the moralising EU will help big pharma screw the third world. South Africa is paying $US5.25 for its AstraZeneca doses.
The simple maths points to the coming bonanza. Say four billion people getting two doses every year at $US5-$US10 a dose; that adds to $US40bn to $US80bn in perpetuity.
But the real cream with the vaccines, as CSL showed, is in the marginal dose.
Yes, overall CSL made a healthy gross profit of 66c in every vaccine revenue dollar. But it increased the vaccine gross profit by $US369m on revenues that only increased by $US399m.
That’s a marginal gross profit of US92c in the revenue dollar.
Thank you China; Christmas card from us and big pharma to follow.
Read Terry McCrann’s full analysis here.
Jared Lynch8.15am:How Hockey secured $340m from US for Brisbane biotech
It was during a Zoom call that Joe Hockey realised a small Brisbane company held the key to returning the US back to some kind of normality and helping it overcome COVID-19. But to achieve that goal, first there needed to be a slight change of direction.
And it was that suggestion from Hockey — a former federal treasurer and Australia’s previous ambassador to the US — that enabled them to extract $US265m ($341m) from the US government, despite not receiving one dollar from the Morrison government.
A mutual friend of Hockey’s had set up the Zoom call between his advisory firm Bondi Partners and Brisbane biotech Ellume in April last year. Ellume had spent about a decade developing a rapid influenza test and was struggling to navigate the complex path to FDA approval.
Read the full story here.
Jack Paynter7.35am:Alert over second Covid sewage find
Coronavirus fragments have again been found in wastewater samples taken from three Melbourne suburbs without any known active cases.
The health department revealed on Saturday night COVID-19 viral fragments had again been detected in sewage from Carrum Downs, Langwarrin and Skye in Melbourne’s southeast.
There are no known active cases in the area with the closest active case located in Greater Dandenong.
The remaining of the state’s 25 active cases reside in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Viral fragments have now been detected in two wastewater samples taken from a local catchment between February 15 and 17.
Coronavirus fragments were also detected earlier in the week in wastewater samples taken in the Wantirna South and Boronia area, and the St Kilda East and Caulfield North area.
The health department has urged anyone with any symptoms of COVID-19 and lives in or has visited the areas below during the following times has been urged to get tested:
- Carrum Downs or Langwarrin from February 13 to 17, including parts of Skye;
- Wantirna South or Boronia from February 13 to 15, including parts of Bayswater, Ferntree Gully, Knoxfield and Tremont;
- St Kilda East or Caulfield North from February 13 to 16, including parts of Balaclava, Caulfield and Elsternwick.
READ MORE:The moment is here for regional revival
Staff writers7am:678,000 Australians to be vaccinated from 9am tomorrow
From 9am on Monday, 678,000 Australians on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis will become the first to receive their COVID-19 jabs.
In the historic 1A phase of the government’s national vaccination program, Border Force staff, quarantine workers, COVID-19 medical personnel, and aged and disability care workers and residents will get the Pfizer vaccine.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has told The Sunday Herald Sun that by October, it is hoped most Australians over the age of 18 will be vaccinated.
“Australia is about to embark on one of the most important public health initiatives in our nation’s history,” Mr Hunt said.
“Getting the vaccination is both an individual and a collective responsibility.
“If people can see safety and effectiveness, then they will be confident and the numbers will grow and grow.”
The development comes 14 months after the first case of coronavirus was detected in Australia, triggering crippling lockdowns and leaving hundreds dead.
READ MORE:How can the ABC compete with this?
Dow Jones6.45am:Vaccination delays could bring more virus variants
Scientists say the world has reached a precarious point in the COVID-19 pandemic, one where conditions are ripe for the rise of more new coronavirus variants that could complicate efforts to control the disease.
The virus continues to spread rapidly in many parts of the world, even as segments of the population have gained some degree of immunity as a result of having been infected or vaccinated.
Scientists say that combination — high rates of viral transmission and a partially immunised population — encourages the emergence of variants that are potentially more transmissible or more lethal. More transmission means more opportunities for the virus to evolve, they say.
“If everyone has immunity, then you have pretty much no virus circulating and the virus can’t adapt,” University of Bern molecular epidemiologist Emma Hodcroft said, adding that if no one within a population has immunity, then there’s no pressure on the virus to evolve. “That middle part, where you have a partially vaccinated population, or a partially immune population with lots of virus circulating, that’s kind of your danger point,” she said.
New variants could also reduce the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and lead to reinfections among people who have already recovered from COVID-19, scientists say. The key to minimising these problems, they say, lies with social distancing and other measures to reduce contagion as well as with ramping up vaccination efforts, which have lagged behind in many places.
“The slower you are at both of these things, the bigger risk you’re taking that you’re going to have the emergence of more variants,” said Richard Lessells, an infectious-disease specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in Durban, South Africa, the group of scientists who first sequenced the South African variant, B. 1.351.
When a virus infects someone, it creates many copies of itself. Each time it does, errors can be introduced into its genetic code. Some of these errors, or mutations, have no effect on the behaviour of the virus. Others — like some of those seen in the worrisome variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil — may boost the virus’s ability to evade our immune defences.
READ MORE:Dennis Shanahan — Raw and personal pain lost in the cold reality of politics
Agencies6.30am:G7 leaders commit $7.5bn to fund vaccines for poorer nations
Wealthy G7 powers have ramped up health funding for poorer nations after accusations they are hoarding coronavirus vaccines, as US President Joe Biden and his fellow leaders declared a “turning point” from the psychodramas of the Trump era.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this year’s chair of the G7, vowed to free up any surplus UK vaccines for poorer countries at a future date, and underlined the need for collective action to recover from the pandemic.
At the G7, Biden brought a pledge of $4 billion in US aid to the UN’s Covax fund to buy vaccines for global distribution.
Germany said it was giving an extra 1.5 billion euros for the global rollout, and the European Union doubled its own Covax funding to one billion euros.
The total in G7 commitments stands at $7.5 billion, the group said in a joint statement following the talks.
“Drawing on our strengths and values as democratic, open economies and societies, we will work together and with others to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism and to shape a recovery that promotes the health and prosperity of our people and planet,” the leaders added.
The ONE Campaign, a global organisation co-founded by U2 singer Bono, said the G7 members together with the rest of the EU plus Australia had collectively bought nearly 1.25 billion more doses than they needed to inoculate every member of their populations against COVID-19.
READ MORE:That’s rich: Conroy rejects ex-PM’s claim
Daniel Sankey, Nicholas Jensen6am:Ignore the anti-vaxxers, Australians told
Australians have been urged to ignore the conspiracy theories and misinformation spread by anti-vaxxers who gathered across the country yesterday to protest the national rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said Australians who had questions about vaccines should obtain information from trusted health officials.
“Fervent anti-vaxxers are in a really small minority … I am going to ignore them, frankly, and I would encourage you to do the same,” Professor Sutton said.
“It is legitimate to ask questions and I would encourage all those individuals who have seen information that they are unsure about the legitimacy of that information to go to trusted individuals, go to your GP … go to trusted information sources.”
Twenty people were arrested yesterday as anti-vaccination protesters gathered at Fawkner Park in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.
As hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic on Toorak Road, before moving back towards St Kilda, a heavy police presence — including Air Wing and mounted officers — was deployed.
Two Sunday Herald Sun journalists were also handcuffed and issued with a notice of a potential $1652 fine as they attempted to cover the Melbourne rally.
In Sydney, disgraced celebrity chef turned political aspirant Pete Evans joined hundreds of anti-vaxxers as they marched from Hyde Park through the city, chanting “f*** Bill Gates” and holding signs that said “just say no”, “coronavirus is a scam” and “vaccines kill”.
“I don’t have the answers. No one is coming to save you except you,” Mr Evans told the crowd.
“Each and every one of you has to stand up in whatever capacity you can.”
Deregistered physician Andrew Katelaris also made an appearance, reportedly claiming that COVID-19 was made in a lab.
No arrests were made in Sydney, while large crowds also gathered at the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane.
A total of 11 rallies were held across the nation yesterday.
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