PoliticsNow: PM updates vaccine advice for under 50s
Scott Morrison has announced the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over AstraZeneca for people under 50 following blood clot concerns.
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Welcome to live coverage of political news as the nation responds to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a late press conference in Canberra, Scott Morrison has announced the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over AstraZeneca for people under 50 following blood clot concerns.
Earlier, health minister Greg Hunt said he had told the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on immunisation to give its advice on blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine “frankly and fearlessly”.
“If they advise age restrictions or other variations, we’ll do it, we’ll adopt it,” he said
The Oxford University research team says the benefits of its vaccine outweigh the risks despite a European Medical Association finding that the jab is “strongly associated” with blood clots in the brain.
Jess Malcolm10.30pm:CSL ‘respects government’s vaccine decision’
Commonwealth Serum Laboratories says it respects the decision taken by the Australian government, and reiterates that blood clotting is “an extremely rare” side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
CSL is the only company capable of producing vaccines onshore currently, and is responsible for Australia’s domestic AstraZeneca supply.
“Regulators around the world, including the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), have reviewed the rare clotting events and did not identify any risk factors, such as age or gender, or a definite cause for these extremely rare events,” the statement read.
“However, they came to the view that these events have a possible link to the vaccine and requested they be listed as an extremely rare potential side effect.”
“Whilst concerning, the events under assessment are very rare, with low numbers reported among the almost 200 million individuals who have received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccnie around the world.”
CSL said it is still committed to providing vaccines in the nation’s rollout, in light of this evening’s changes to the use of the AstraZeneca jab.
“CSL remains committed to meeting its contracted arrangements with the Australian Government and AstraZeneca for locally produced AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement read.
“We will continue our focused and important efforts to manufacture this vaccine which remains critical for the protection of our most vulnerable populations.”
“We are proud of our unique role in Austra as the only onshore manufacturer that can produce this vaccine and remain dedicated to our ongoing contribution towards this effort.”
Jess Malcolm 9.30pm:AstraZeneca use changes ‘abundantly cautious’
Federal Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman has called changes to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine “abundantly cautious”, but disputed claims that it was an overreaction.
“What we’ve seen today is, following some advice and some analysis from our European friends, a very precautionary, an abundantly cautious approach, to the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Mr Zimmerman told Q&A.
How can trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine be restored? #QandApic.twitter.com/KzDOnvm0nz
— QandA (@QandA) April 8, 2021
“We’re not going to get back to anything like our normal existence until we have a large proportion of the Australian community vaccinated.”
Mr Zimmerman - who is the member for North Sydney - supported Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt’s claims that Australia’s supply of Pfizer is stable.
“Pfizer’s been coming in quite regularly,” he said. “Thankfully, it has not had the supply issues that we saw with AstraZeneca, which deprived us of 3 million AstraZeneca doses.
“Novavax, we’re talking about the third quarter of this year but obviously, particularly in the light of today’s developments, the PM and the Health Minister have already flagged that they’re going to be talking to Novavax to see if that can be brought forward.”
“But remember, it hasn’t finished the approval processes. The signs are promising, but we’re not completely at the end of the processes they go through before it’s made available.”
Rosie Lewis9.00pm:Harassment reforms ‘unfair to employers’
Employers say they will be unfairly exposed to “vicarious” liability claims after the Morrison government agreed to a key reform to address sexual harassment in the workplace that gives victims two years to make a complaint.
The government also faces criticism from the union movement and Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins after unveiling its full response to her landmark Respect@Work report, which it had been sitting on for more than a year.
Of the 55 recommendations made in the report, the government agreed to 40, agreed in-principle or in-part to six, and noted nine.
Jess Malcolm8.13pm: Morrison congratulates states on virus responses
Scott Morrison has congratulated the states for their swift response to coronavirus outbreaks, quashing fears that way of life for Australians could change because of the new provisions on AstraZeneca.
Drawing on a comparison to countries overseas battling COVID-19 outbreaks, the Prime Minister said the “set-back” of AstraZeneca would not impact the economy or restrictions.
“What we’ve also seen is rather quick responses, restrictions have come on quickly, but they’ve gone off quickly too,” Mr Morrison said.
“I’m seeing a growing confidence from the states and territories which I welcome and have long encouraged to move quickly on these things.”
“The fundamental protections we have in place in Australia at the moment with how we’ve been suppressing COVID have been very important, and Australians are living life here very different to how people are in other countries.”
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt refused to reveal where Australia’s supply of the Pfizer vaccine originates, claiming he is “confident” in the continuity of the jab’s supply.
“We don’t identify, for security reasons, the specific source,” Mr Hunt said.
“Shall we say that we’ve been very heartened by the continuity, the reliability, of Pfizer so far. I would add, on a general point, Europe has often said that they do not have a dispute with exporting vaccines, they have a specific dispute with AstraZeneca.”
Australia has faced issues securing doses of both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine, with the European Union denying claims it blocked 3.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday.
Pfizer says it is committed to deliver 20 million doses of the protein-based vaccine to Australia by the end of the year.
Jess Malcolm8.02pm: Government to explore making Novavax in Australia
Professor Brendan Murphy has foreshadowed that the federal government will be exploring options for the Novavax vaccine to be made onshore, confirming CSL is not able to make two jabs at once.
He also stressed the important role that the AstraZeneca vaccine will continue to play in Australia’s vaccination rollout.
“They can’t make another vaccine while they’re making AstraZeneca,” Professor Murphy said.
“They’ve made that very clear. We will explore with Novavax if there are any options to manufacture onshore. But most importantly, we are working with Novavax to get their promised deliveries as early as possible.”
Mr Hunt also announced that he spoke earlier today with the global vice president of Novavax, which are “on track” to deliver vaccines as planned in the latter half of the year.
The Novavax is still awaiting final approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
“It’s a progressive process,” Mr Hunt said. “They’re providing data as they come.”
Jess Malcolm7.53pm:AstraZeneca benefit for over 50s ‘outweights the risk’
Scott Morrison has hosed down concern that the AstraZeneca vaccine could be harmful to people over the age of 50, saying “the benefit outweighs the risk”.
“Should there be an outbreak of COVID-19, they would be very exposed to that risk,” Mr Morrison said.
“They are the most vulnerable group in the country and so it’s important for them to be vaccinated, because the vaccine protects against very serious illness, and we have seen in the more than 900 deaths that we’ve had in Australia, they have predominantly been with older Australians.”
Mr Hunt said earlier today that 1000 aged care facilities had received their first doses of AstraZeneca and 435 had received their second doses.
The Australian vaccination rollout has been heavily weighted on the AstraZeneca vaccination, with capability to produce it onshore.
Jess Malcolm7.46pm:Vaccine choice left to individuals and their GP
Scott Morrison has left open the choice for which vaccine to be had to individual Australians in consultation with their GPs.
While there have been changes to the AstraZeneca vaccine for usage under 50s, the Prime Minister has confirmed it is to be taken on-board on a case by case basis.
“Ultimately here, the choice is with individual Australians and their doctor,” Mr Morrison said.
“The advice here today is not to NOT have the AstraZeneca vaccine. There is not a prohibition on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for persons under 50. There is an expression of a preference.”
“Their doctor will know their own personal health circumstances and can answer any questions that they might have and, for the benefit of they may feel quite strongly that they may be better off having that vaccine, given the risks are clearly understood.”
But Mr Morrison also stressed an abundance of caution must be taken in light of new health advice.
“It is an abundance of caution, and it’s a caution that is being exercised consistent with many other countries around the world, and we would expect to see that also continue in other countries now making similar decisions.”
READ MORE:Worst case is 2800 daily winter cases
Jess Malcolm7.39pm:Government ‘confident’ in improved vaccine supply
Federal health minister Greg Hunt has hosed down fears that the changes to the AstraZeneca vaccine use will affect the speed of broader rollout, by listing the other vaccines available to Australians.
“We already have 20 million Pfizer, which are due this year, reconfirmed with the head of Pfizer Australia today,” Mr Hunt said.
“We have the AstraZeneca, which of course is available for all of those over 50 years of age. We have Novavax, 51 million units.”
The Chief Health Officer Professor Brendan Murphy supported this claim, announcing that the government is “confident” that there will be an improved supply of Pfizer.
The nation’s rollout of Pfizer will wrap up in aged care in a couple of weeks time, which Professor Murphy said will free up stocks of the protein-based vaccine.
READ MORE: Jab, blood clots: your questions answered
Jess Malcolm7.15pm:PM updates vaccine advice for under 50s
Scott Morrison says the Pfizer vaccine is preferred for people under the age of 50, following a meeting of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
In a late-night press conference in Canberra, the Prime Minister announced a serious of changes to Australia’s vaccination rollout, based on recent recommendations after the Astrazeneca vaccine was suspected to be linked to blood clots.
“This is based on the increased risk of complications from COVID-19 with increasing age, and thus increased benefit of vaccination,” Professor Paul Kelly said.
“At the current time, the use of the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in adults aged less than 50 years who have not already received a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The second recommendation is that immunisation providers should only give a first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 50 years of age where benefit clearly outweighs the risk for that individual’s circumstances.”
“The third recommendation is people that have had their first dose of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca without any serious adverse events can safely be given their second dose.”
The changes to the vaccination rollout have been taken because Australia is in a strong position with no community transmission at this stage, the Prime Minister said.
“We’ve been taking the necessary precautions based on the best possible medical advice,” Mr Morrison said.
“We have always taken the time to ensure we get that advice, consider it carefully, and make decisions in the best interests of Australians and those best interests, principally, have to address the health of Australians.”
Staff writers6.44pm:Morrison to hold press conference shortly
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is holding a press conference at 7.15pm at Parliament House. We’ll be live blogging it here.
Sarah Elks5.51pm:Queensland’s $12m hotel quarantine bill
Queensland has been left out of pocket nearly $12m from hotel quarantine in the state, with more than 4000 travellers’ bills left unpaid.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath - in a response to a question on notice tabled in state parliament on Thursday - said that as at February 26, Queensland Health had issued 20,073 invoices for quarantine fees.
“Of these, 4,198 invoices were overdue for payment,” Ms D’Ath said.
“The total value of these overdue invoices was $11,961,593.92. I have been advised that the system does not identify if the person is an international or domestic arrival.”
“Queensland Health had received 6,363 applications for quarantine fee waivers in the period from 1 July 2020 to 26 February 2021. Of the applications considered by 26 February 2021, 538 applicants had been granted a full quarantine fee waiver and 29 applicants had been granted a partial fee waiver.”
The LNP Opposition’s Sam O’Connor asked the question of Ms D’Ath on March 9, and the answer was tabled on Thursday afternoon. There was no explanation of what has changed in the figures between February 26 and now.
Finn McHugh5.45pm:Credible reports of Uighur abuse: Payne
Foreign Minister Marise Payne says there are “credible reports of the systematic abuse and torture” of Uighur women in response to an extraordinary press conference by the Chinese embassy.
Australian journalists were invited to a press conference on Wednesday where they were shown Chinese government propaganda videos denying the abuse of the Muslim minority Uyghur population in Xinjiang.
Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye lashed out at what he described the “distorted coverage” of Xinjiang, and slammed Canberra for its criticism of Chinese human rights abuses.
Jess Malcolm 5.20pm: Porter’s rape accuser requested to make statement
NSW Police have revealed the woman who alleged she was raped by Christian Porter requested to make a formal statement on Skype during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 1, 2020 the alleged victim requested that she commence her statement by way of Skype due to her inability to travel to Sydney from Adelaide due to border restrictions.
The next day, investigators consulted with the woman via teleconference and presented her with options on how she could proceed with the allegations and launch a formal statement.
In new answers to questions on notice to NSW Parliament, NSW Police have confirmed the woman made two telephone calls to investigators which were not immediately answered, but returned within seven minutes and five hours and 26 minutes respectively.
NSW Police said they made approximately six telephone calls to the victim which were unanswered.
Almost three months later, the woman reportedly told NSW Police that she no longer wanted to proceed with the report which related to an alleged incident at a Sydney debating conference in 1988.
She died by suicide at home 24 hours later.
Mr Porter has emphatically denied the allegations, and has launched a defamation case against the ABC about its reporting of the historic rape allegation against him after the public broadcaster published an anonymous letter sent to the Prime Minister about a Cabinet minister.
READ the full story here.
Sophie Elsworth 5.00pm: Neighbours launches racism probe
Television drama Neighbours will have an independent review conducted into its production process after fresh claims emerged this week of racism, sexism and misogyny on set.
Fremantle Australia, the company which produces the program for Network 10, said they were taking immediate action after numerous complaints were made by actors who worked on the program.
This included Shareena Clanton, 32, from Melbourne, who told The Australian unacceptable behaviour was “rife” on the program.
“There’s a beast of racism, white supremacy and toxic behaviour and sexism and misogyny that really needs to be shifted and changed,” she said.
In Fremantle’s statement it said they are “committed to providing an environment where employees and others in the workplace are treated fairly and with respect and are free from unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying”
READ the full story here.
AFP 4.05pm: Japan ‘may prioritise Olympic athletes for vaccine’
Japan is considering prioritising its Olympic athletes for coronavirus vaccines, aiming to get them innoculated before the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Games open on July 23, local media said Thursday.
Japan’s government denied any such plan was being considered, but said it would be “closely watching discussions” about protecting athletes’ health.
The reported move sparked criticism online, with one Japanese Twitter user demanding: “Give it to my granny first!” Japan’s vaccine rollout is moving slowly, with just one million first doses given so far to medical workers since jabs began in February.
Older people will start receiving doses only from next week, and so far Japan has approved only the Pfizer vaccine.
A date has not yet been set for vaccinating the broader population, but the government is now considering giving Japanese athletes both shots by late June, Kyodo News agency reported, citing unnamed government sources.
Private broadcaster Nippon TV and other media also reported the plan, with some pointing out that the proposed timeline would mean healthy young athletes would finish their inoculations before some of Japan’s elderly.
Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said there was “no fact in the claim that the government is studying such a plan and the government has no intention of discussing it at this point.” But he told reporters the government would be “closely watching discussions on athletes’ health issues” among Olympic officials, the Tokyo Games organisers and host city Tokyo.
Online, the reports were met with criticism, with one Japanese Twitter user calling on “all the athletes to come out and say they won’t do this.” “Will you thank the old and sick people who died because their vaccines were late for giving their lives for the Olympics?” asked another.
READ MORE: Clots a ‘very rare’ AstraZeneca side effect
Rachel Baxendale3.15pm: Virus traces detected in Melbourne wastewater
Coronavirus fragments have been detected in wastewater in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs, despite Victoria not having had any new locally acquired cases of the virus for 41 days.
The state’s Health Department on Thursday urged anyone with even mild COVID-19 symptoms to get tested, especially those who had visited Clayton, Clayton South, Dingley Village, Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Mulgrave, Notting Hill, Springvale, Springvale South or Wheelers Hill between April 4 and 6.
“Fragments of the virus detected in wastewater may be due to a person with COVID-19 being in the early active infectious phase or it could be because someone is continuing to shed the virus after the early infectious period,” the department said.
State authorities on Wednesday administered 5778 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total administered by Victoria’s health department to 129,537.
Victoria on Thursday announced a state government vaccination target of 300,000 vaccine doses by mid May.
ROSIE LEWIS2.56pm: Warning over sex harassment ‘missed opportunity’
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has declared “it will be a missed opportunity” if the government refuses to require employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination in workplaces.
Ms Jenkins, the author of the Respect@Work report whose 55 recommendations the government responded to on Thursday, was mostly complimentary of reform committed to by Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash but was disappointed that particular recommendation was merely “noted”.
“It will be a missed opportunity to not introduce a positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment in the Sex Discrimination Act, so I am happy to assist government with the evidence provided to the national inquiry as they further assess this recommendation,” Ms Jenkins said.
The government said employers already had a duty to ensure all employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, so far as is reasonably practicable, including the risk of being sexually harassed, under the model Work Health and Safety Act.
Ms Jenkins said the government’s response provided hope to those who had experienced unsafe workplaces under the current system and for workers of the future.
“The fact that the government has accepted in whole, in part, in principle or noted all 55 recommendations is a credit to the thousands for Australians who participated in the national inquiry, and those who have used their voices to call for change,” she said.
READ the full story here
Perry Williams 2.32pm:Morrison government eyes Whyalla back-up plan
The Morrison government has confirmed it is working on a back-up plan to keep Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks afloat, after a move by creditors to seize control of his local industrial operations.
A South Australian government contingency plan to provide bridging finance has been canvassed with Scott Morrison since early last month after the collapse of its main lender, Greensill Capital.
Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham said it was closely following the unfolding situation after a court action to wind up OneSteel Manufacturing, owner of Whyalla, and the Tahmoor coal mine had put 2000 jobs on the line.
“Governments are monitoring this situation very closely and indeed doing the type of contingency thinking and planning that would be prudent in these sorts of circumstances,” Mr Birmingham told ABC Radio.
Victoria Laurie 2.05pm:Labor staffers tell of discrimination, bullying
Eight women who worked for WA Labor MPs say they were subjected to sexual discrimination and bullying and either lost their jobs or were forced out due to toxic working conditions.
The women include three former electorate officers from Kalamunda MP Matthew Hughes’ office and one from the office of Deputy Premier and Health Minister Roger Cook. One woman is currently fighting her dismissal in the WA Industrial Relations Commission.
READ the full story here
Finn McHugh1.48pm:NZ bubble won’t be derailed by Auckland case
The trans-Tasman travel bubble will not be derailed despite New Zealand suffering a COVID-19 case just days after it was announced, the Health Minister says.
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed this week a long-awaited travel bubble would begin on April 19, allowing Australians to travel freely across the Tasman.
But a new COVID-19 case confirmed in New Zealand on Thursday raised questions about whether the plan would go ahead.
Health Minister Greg Hunt played down those fears on Thursday, describing New Zealand as a “global exemplar” in containing outbreaks and confirming the advice remained unchanged.
“New Zealand has an outstanding record … We have confidence as a government in the New Zealand government’s approach,” he said.
“But we have full independence and authority which we provided to the chief medical officer to provide frank and fearless recommendations. So where we’ve had to take steps, we have.”
NZ authorities confirmed one case of community transmission on Thursday, a 24-year man who worked as a security guard at a hotel quarantine facility in Auckland.
The man was not vaccinated but a close contact has tested negative to the virus.
Mr Hunt said Australia and New Zealand boasted two of the strongest hotel quarantine systems in the world, but no measures could completely eradicate the threat of COVID-19.
“The first ring of containment … is the quarantine program,” he said.
“(But) even the best in the world is not an immunity bubble. There will be additional leakage from that, whether it’s a breath, a touch, whether it’s a surface.” — NCA Newswire
READ MORE: NZ superlodges you must visit
Rachel Baxendale1.03pm:Merlino calls for transparency over vaccine rollout
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has called for a more nationally consistent vaccine rollout, with transparency over the quantities of vaccine administered by the federal government in each state, ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting.
The call came as Mr Merlino and Health Minister Martin Foley announced a target for Victoria of 300,000 doses by the middle of May, and as the head of the Victorian Health Department’s vaccine rollout Ben Cowie revealed a shipment of almost 40,000 vaccine doses which was due to be delivered to the state last week is yet to arrive.
While Victoria has so far administered 129,537 vaccine doses to the front line health and quarantine workers for whom it is responsible for vaccinating, the Morrison government is yet to provide data on how many Victorians it has vaccinated in the 1A and 1B cohorts, which include people aged 70 and over.
“We stand ready and willing and able to broaden our program and help the commonwealth with additional cohorts of people, but that’s a decision, as I said, that the commonwealth needs to make, and we need to make it in a nationally consistent way,” Mr Merlino said on Thursday.
“That’s why it’s appropriate that be discussed at national cabinet tomorrow.
“It’s not appropriate, that depending on where you live around the country, you get a different approach in terms of the rollout of the vaccination.”
Mr Foley said the Morrison government was yet to provide Victoria with figures on how many Victorians it had vaccinated.
“I can’t tell you how many Victorian GP centres have put vaccines into people’s arms, or how many the commonwealth have put in disability, private residential aged care or others,” he said.
OLIVIA CAISLEY 12.50pm: Hunt tells advisers to be ‘fearless’ over AstraZeneca
Health minister Greg Hunt says he has told the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on immunisation to give its advice on blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine “frankly and fearlessly”.
“If they advise age restrictions or other variations, we’ll do it, we’ll adopt it,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Hunt said their decisions should be based on their best judgment of the balance of safety for Australians.
It comes as the European Union’s medical regulator listed blood clots as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the UK’s regulator decided to offer an alternative shot for those aged under 30.
Mr Hunt said Australia had delivered 996,145 doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the nation expected to reach the one million dose milestone tomorrow.
Mr Hunt on Thursday said 1000 aged care facilities had received their first doses and 435 had received their second doses.
“A national total now of 996,145 doses administered,” he said. “At the state level, 509,802 doses, and the commonwealth level 486,343 doses, including over 361,000 through primary care and 125,260 through aged care.”
READ MORE: MP slams Australian vaccine maker
Jared Lynch 12.19pm:Holgate ousting a dangerous precedent: union
The union representing postal workers has warned Christine Holgate’s departure from Australia Post sets a “dangerous precedent” for all workers at the government-owned enterprise, given the board stood her down as a “direct result of untested allegations”.
The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information Postal, Plumbing, Allied Services Union (CEPU) has weighed into the saga engulfing Australia Post, labelling it “a matter of workplace justice”.
The union also supports the reinstatement of Ms Holgate as Australia Post’s chief executive if a Senate inquiry into her departure, which begins next week, clears her of wrongdoing.
“The CEPU states in the strongest possible terms, that the treatment of all workers at Australia Post must adhere to Australian workplace laws, including the laws and processes relating to employee discipline and dismissal,” the CEPU said.
The union’s comments – made in a 15-page submission to the Senate inquiry – adds to Ms Holgate’s claim that chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo unlawfully stood her down over the rewarding of four senior executives with Cartier watches worth $19,950.
It comes after a war of words erupted between Ms Holgate and Mr Di Bartolomeo, with the chair issuing a near 1000-word statement calling her claims incorrect, after her 151-page submission to the inquiry called him a liar.
READ the full story here
Nicholas Jensen11.38am:Victoria reaches 41 days with no local virus cases
Victoria has recorded no new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, marking 41 days of no locally acquired cases.
The milestone comes as the state resumes accepting international arrivals today.
There were 13,291 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours, with Victorian Health administering 5778 vaccinations.
Today’s results come as the Victorian government announced its plan to administer 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by the mid May.
The Victorian government also confirmed it would establish two major vaccine hubs at the Royal Showgrounds in Flemington and the Mercure Convention Centre in Ballarat to achieve the target.
READ MORE: Victoria spruiks latest hotel quarantine hotel plan
Sophie Elsworth11.25am:ABC apologises to Jacinta Price
The ABC has apologised to Alice Springs deputy mayor Jacinta Price for airing multiple radio segments that accused her of spreading “racist vitriol” and “hate speech”.
Subsequent court action taken by Ms Price against the public broadcaster has also been settled between the parties.
Ms Price, who launched the defamation proceedings in September last year, settled her claim against the Coffs Harbour and Districts Local Aboriginal Land Council in November and just last week settled her dispute with the ABC.
READ the full story here
Nicholas Jensen11.19am:NSW records zero new local virus cases
NSW has recorded no local cases of COVID-19, with two cases of the virus recorded in hotel quarantine.
There were 11,694 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours, with health officials monitoring 42 active cases, none of whom are in ICU.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 8, 2021
Two new cases were acquired overseas, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,129.
There were 11,694 tests reported to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/oe5ygd4sU4
NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer Jeremy McAnulty said “while it’s pleasing to see that testing numbers have risen in the past 24 hours, we have seen a decline in the number of people with symptoms being tested in recent weeks”.
“High testing rates are the cornerstone for detecting any potential transmission of COVID-19 in the community,” Dr McAnulty said.
NSW Health said 6228 vaccinations were administered yesterday, bringing the total number to 140,551.
READ MORE: Minister takes aim at ‘cosy’ art elites
Staff writers11.03am:NZ border worker tests positive to virus
An Auckland border worker has tested positive to COVID-19, New Zealand health authorities have confirmed.
The infected person is believed to be a 24-year-old who worked at Auckland’s Grand Millenium hotel, a Managed Isolation Facility, New Zealand health ministry chief executive Dr Ashley Bloomfield said. The worker had not been vaccinated.
The same hotel previously had a cleaner test positive in March.
The positive case comes as Australia and New Zealand prepare to open a trans-Tasman travel bubble allowing residents of both countries to move between the two without mandatory quarantine.
READ MORE: Qantas ramps up trans-Tasman flights
Natasha Robinson10.54am: Vaccine and blood clots: Your questions answered
Extremely rare cases of blood clots have been observed in people throughout the UK and Europe following vaccination with the AstraZeneca shot. But these are no ordinary blood clots — they are of a type that doctors have rarely seen before. The European medicines regulator now says there is a causal link with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
What options does Australia have if it decides to follow the UK and other European countries in restricting the vaccine’s use in younger people?
READthe full explainer on the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots here
Richard Ferguson9.56am: Benefits of AstraZeneca jab outweigh risks: PM
Scott Morrison is expecting the latest advice on AstraZeneca and blood clots as early as Thursday evening, as he assures Australian the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.
Britain has decided to restrict AstraZeneca’s use among under-30s after the European Medicines Agency said people under 60 were at a greater risk of blood clots in the brain if they took the jab.
The Prime Minister said the blood clots were extremely rare and blood clots are more common in the contraceptive pill.
“We need to consider the positive benefits of them. But what we’re looking at here is an incidence of these clotting behaviour of some one-to-five in every million,” he said in Canberra.
“What ATAGI (Australian Technical Group on Immunisation) will be doing is they’ll be looking at that evidence and they, of course, will be weighing that against the very positive benefits of the vaccine program.
“And then they’ll be providing further advice. So my message to premiers and chief ministers this morning is the same message to Australians – we got the best people in the world looking at these issues to give us the medical expert advice.”
READ MORE: Whyalla can’t take another collapse
Richard Ferguson9.39am:Sexual harassment grounds for dismissal in all workplaces
Sexual harassment is set to officially become a ground for dismissal in Australian workplaces, and both MPs and judges will be subject to the Sex Discrimination Act.
Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has unveiled a suite of legislative and regulatory reforms in response to Sexual Discrimination Commissoner Kate Jenkins’ Respect@Work report on workplace sexual harassment.
The government will amend the Fair Work Act to ensure there are tougher penalties for workers and employers who sexually harass others, and will also make changes to the Human Rights Act to extend the lifespan of sexual harassment complaints.
Sexual harassment will now be grounds for dismissal and it will be labelled “serious misconduct” in the Fair Work Act.
The Sex Discrimination Act will also ensure MPs and judges will be subject to sexual discrimination complaints to the Human Rights Commission, after being exempt for decades.
READthe full story on the Morrison government’s response to Kate Jenkins’ Respect@Work report here
Max Maddison9.28am:Surprise Nationals candidate to contest Upper Hunter seat
An engineer from Muswellbrook has been selected as The Nationals candidate to contest the Upper Hunter by-election.
In a surprise result on Wednesday night, David Layzell, 45, defeated Singleton mayor and widely considered favourite Sue Moore to become the Upper Hunter candidate in a poll which is shaping as pivotal for both the Coalition and Labor.
With the marginal seat on a 2.6 per cent knife-edge, and four candidates expected to run, the by-election is considered too close to call, but Nationals leader John Barilaro said he expected his party would get over the line.
“We are going to be on the front foot … and on our track record I think we will get there,” the deputy leader said.
The father-of-four delivered “one of the most impressive speeches’’ Mr Barilaro said he had seen.\.
The by-election was sparked after Michael Johnsen was forced to resign after being accused of raping a sex worker in the Blue Mountains.
READ MORE: Nationals MP denies rape allegation
Nicholas Jensen9.20am:Queensland goes another day with zero local virus cases
Queensland has recorded no local cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, with three cases detected in hotel quarantine.
Thursday 8 April – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) April 7, 2021
• 0 new locally acquired
• 3 overseas acquired
• 68 active cases
• 1,500 total cases
• 2,336,802 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,366 patients have recovered.#covid19pic.twitter.com/XMFPDQx2jM
There were 10,014 test results received across the state in the past 24 hours.
Queensland health authorities are currently monitoring 68 active cases.
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Nicholas Jensen9.07am: ‘Risk always lower than benefit’ with vaccines
ANU Professor of Microbiology Peter Collignon has warned regulators that more data is required to adequately assess the risks and benefits of vaccines when considering their possible side effects.
His comments come after the European Medicines Agency reported it found a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots.
“The risk will always be much lower than the benefit, but it may be an altered equation in different groups,” Professor Collignon told Sky News this morning.
“Even the Pfizer vaccine, which is the main one, and which has been put up as being safer, that has been associated with increased deaths in Norway.”
Professor Collingnon emphasised that “every drug and every vaccine will have some side effects”.
“The big advantage in Australia, we do not have transmission of the virus,” he said. “That gives us a chance to get all this data from Europe, America and everywhere else and make a decision on what the risks are in different groups without having to rush it.”
“We can then make changes as more vaccines become available that we can finally import from overseas and certain groups may be given different ones,” he said.
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Nicholas Jensen8.47am:Vaccine label to carry risk of clotting side effect
AstraZeneca says it is collaborating with British and European regulators to change the product information on its COVID-19 jabs after health officials said they suspected possible links with the vaccine and blood clots.
“Both of these reviews reaffirmed the vaccine offers a high-level of protection against all severities of COVID-19 and that these benefits continue to far outweigh the risks,” AstraZeneca said in a statement.
“However, they came to the view that these events have a possible link to the vaccine and requested they be listed as an extremely rare potential side effect.”
“AstraZeneca has been actively collaborating with the regulators to implement these changes to the product information.”
READ MORE: Clots a ‘very rare’ AstraZeneca side effect
Richard Ferguson8.22am:AstraZeneca ‘very safe’: Chief Medical Officer
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has backed the AstraZeneca vaccine as “very safe” as the nation’s leading doctors consider on Thursday whether to follow Britain and limit the COVID-19 jab’s use in young people.
Britain has decided to restrict AstraZeneca’s use among under-30s after the European Medicines Agency said people under 60 were at a greater risk of blood clots in the brain if they took the jab.
Dr Kelly said the recommendations by both the Europeans and the British will be considered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, but said the vaccine remained very effective against COVID-19.
“Those two recommendations will be brought to the table today and looked at in the Australian context,” he told ABC News.
“I think there’s a couple of things we need to realise. Firstly, the AstraZeneca vaccine is extremely effective and very safe for most people.
“There is this extremely rare event which appears to be associated with that particular vaccine in some people – four per 1m – the benefit of course is that the vaccines are very effective at preventing COVID illness, which can be very serious, can lead to deaths, particularly in older people.”
Nicholas Jensen7.46am:‘Fair go’: Hazzard sounds conciliatory note on vaccines
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says the federal government should be given a “fair go’’ on its distribution of vaccine supplies.
Mr Hazzard sounded a more conciliatory note, tempering his previous criticisms of the federal government’s lack of clarity surrounding vaccine distribution.
“As much as I let fly last week about some issues I’m also aware we need to give the federal government a fair go on this and not be too negative,” he said.
“My thoughts are that effectively we have been at war with this virus for more than a year so I think we have to give the federal government a little bit of licence to do what they need to do,” Mr Hazard told Nine’s Today show this morning.
“Half a million people have died in the US, many more in Europe. I think let our health experts work through the balancing issues and we just need to listen carefully to it.”
Regarding the set-up of the mass vaccination in Homebush, Mr Hazzard said it would take time to develop the infrastructure it requires.
“It’s not an overnight job. It needs a lot of work and preparation, setting up the infrastructure will be important and difficult.”
Mr Hazzard said there was a need to keep in perspective the potential link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotting.
“Many people have died from the virus and there is some indication that in some very, very rare situations this clotting may occur,” he said.
“We are waiting for further advice from our Therapeutic Goods Administration, so everybody has confidence. I think the community should have confidence in that too.”
Mr Hazzard on Wednesday said he found it “mysterious” why CSL was unable to give a timetable for its vaccine production.
“I think it’s fair to say that the communications probably do need to be improved a little bit with each of the states and territories,” Mr Hazzard told the ABC’s 7.30 program.
“We do get a lot of our information from (the ABC),” he said. “I think it reflects the fact that the federal government is obviously struggling with trying to do the right thing by the community in New South Wales and indeed Australia.
“But we are just having a very difficult time knowing precisely how much vaccine will be available, what quantity and why it has to go through all the approval processes and there was clearly an expectation from some of the earlier statements they would have a lot more.”
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Nicholas Jensen7.06am:Italy limits recommending AstraZeneca to over 60s
Italian health officials will now only recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 60, as the country’s chief health adviser said the possible links between the vaccine and rare cases of blood clots should warrant caution.
Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza took the decision after meeting with experts and other health officials.
However, health officials are instructing people who have already been administered a first dose of AstraZeneca to proceed with their second, while recommending the product be avoided for under 60s, but not prohibited.
Earlier this year Italy limited AstraZeneca doses to people under the age of 65 because clinical trials showed it offered less protection against COVID-19 than other vaccines.
On March 8 the health ministry said it could also be administered to over 65s.
READ MORE: Aged-care death ‘not linked to jab’
Nicholas Jensen6.40am:New threat for Brazil with first South African variant
Brazil has recorded its first case of the highly infectious South African variant, posing new threats for a country that has already incurred one of the highest death tolls in the world.
Last week scientists at the Butantan Biomedical Institute confirmed the case — identified in a woman in Sao Paulo — might be a new local variant.
They have now established it is the first known local case of South African variant.
Health officials are concerned that the combination of the new South African variant and the already rampant Brazilian variant — both of which are more infectious and possibly more deadly than the original COVID-19 — will lead to an uncontrollable surge in cases.
The South African variant appears to reduce protection from current vaccines in clinical trials.
Brazil is currently enduring one of the worst waves of COVID-19 in the world, setting new records for deaths per week.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported a single day record of 4195 deaths, with Health officials now predicting the outbreak could overtake the US in the world’s highest death toll.
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Nicholas Jensen6.25am: Scientists urge new probe into Covid origins
A group of international scientists and researchers have attacked the joint China-World Health Organisation investigation into the origins of COVID-19, arguing that it lacked credibility and provided insufficient answers about how the pandemic began.
The group is advocating a second investigation should now be launched — with or without Beijing’s involvement.
The joint study, released last week, said the likeliest transmission route for COVID-19 involved bats and other wildlife in China and southeast Asia.
The study categorically ruled out the possibility the transmission was leaked from a laboratory.
In an open letter, 24 scientists from across Europe, the US, Australia and Japan said the study was driven by politics, showing scant regard for proper scientific method.
“Their starting point was, let’s have as much compromise as is required to get some minimal co-operation from China,” said Jamie Metzl, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, who drafted the letter.
The letter stated the study’s conclusions were derived from unpublished Chinese research, with critical records and biological sampling “inaccessible”.
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Nicholas Jensen 6.15am:Oxford Uni: AZ benefits still outweighs risks
Oxford University says identification of rare blood clots that could be linked to its COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates that safety systems work, and has emphasised that British and European regulators had found its benefits continue to outweigh the risks.
“We are reassured to see that safety monitoring continues under the close scrutiny of regulators,” the university said in a statement.
“The identification of rare cases of blood clots, which might be associated with the vaccine, shows that the safety system works,” Vaccine Group Director Andrew Pollard said.
“The system has also allowed the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and European Medicines Agency to conclude that the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risks, while putting in measures to help mitigate any possible risk.”
The statement from the university comes after Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered to under 30s where possible “due to a very rare side effect of blood clots in the brain”.
READ MORE:EMA confirms vaccine clot risk
Adam Creighton6.10am:Cases ‘could surge to 1300 a day as winter nears’
COVID-19 cases in Australia could surge to more than 1300 new infections a day as winter approaches — more than double the peak reached last year — according to the “most likely to happen” estimate from an advanced coronavirus model used by the US government.
On a “worst case” scenario, where vaccination programs remain ineffective, forecasts by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predict cases in Australia will increase from around zero to more than 2800 a day by the start of July.
“These IHME forecasts are some of the best you can get,” said Dr Benjamin Ryan, an Australian and public health expert at Baylor University, Texas.
“I don’t know how Australia gets out of this situation without a surge in cases at some point; the evidence is increasingly that at some point you have to reach herd immunity,” he said.
The forecasts, updated on April 1, predict infections, deaths and hospital utilisation across different countries and US states based on the observed impact of the virus, its seasonality, vaccination levels and likely policy responses by governments.
“Given the high mobility, low use of masks, and seasonal pattern starting to work against Australia, we would expect a higher number of COVID cases there,” said Theo Vos, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington.
READ the full story
Agencies5.55am:UK variant now dominant in US: CDC
The UK variant of the coronavirus is now the dominant strain in the US, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Based on our most recent estimates from CDC surveillance, the B.1.1.7 variant is now the most common lineage circulating in the United States, ” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team press conference on Wednesday.
The UK variant is one of several more contagious mutations of the virus to emerge in recent months, causing concern among scientists, public-health officials and government leaders.
There have been 16,275 confirmed cases linked to the UK variant, according to the latest data from the CDC.
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Jacquelin Magnay5.15am:AstraZeneca vaccine ‘strongly associated’ with blood clots
The AstraZeneca vaccine is “strongly associated” with blood clots in the brain and mostly affects women aged under 60, an urgent investigation by the European Medicines Agency has found.
In Britain, both men and women aged under 30 will now be offered an alternative vaccine to AstraZeneca because of increasing evidence the vaccine is linked to deadly clots which have killed 19 Britons, three of whom were aged under 30.
The dramatic findings out of Europe that possibly link the vaccine to very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets could now impact on the suitability of providing the AstraZeneca vaccine for younger women in Australia.
The findings will put pressure on the federal government to follow the UK lead and readjust its vaccination strategy. Australia currently offers the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to frontline health care workers, quarantine staff and the elderly.
“So far, most of the (blood clot) cases reported have occurred in women under 60 years of age within two weeks of vaccination,” the EMA found in its investigation. Blood clots appear to affect women at a rate of more than three times that of men.
EMA’s safety committee (#PRAC) has concluded its review of very rare cases of unusual blood clots with AstraZeneca #COVID19 vaccine.
— EU Medicines Agency (@EMA_News) April 7, 2021
👉https://t.co/WGsfRP8PTopic.twitter.com/aeyzK3bfxd
Dr Sabine Straus, the EMA safety committee chair, said the reporting rate of people developing brain clots, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), or abdominal clotting called splanchnic vein thrombosis, was one or two per 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca.
The UK reported a rate of about one in 250,000 vaccinations.
Read the full story here.
Adam Creighton5am:Australia leads world with $590bn Covid debt spike
Australia’s public debt is on track to rise by more than any other developed nation over the three years to 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest global debt outlook that weighs the impact of a combined US$16 trillion ($20.9 trillion) in pandemic budget support.
Australia’s combined state and federal government debts are expected to rise from the equivalent of 47.5 per cent of GDP in 2019 to 77 per cent of GDP in 2022, a bigger increase as a share of national output than any of the 35 major developed nations the IMF tracks.
For Australia, with an annual GDP of about $2 trillion, a 29.5 per cent rise equates to about $590 billion.
Read the full story here.
Ben Packham4.45am:Australian exporters defy Chinese trade bans
Australian exporters are defying Chinese trade bans, limiting the damage of Beijing’s punitive economic campaign by finding new markets for almost all affected products.
Economic analysis reveals that although $20bn a year has been slashed from Australian exports to China, the nation’s barley, coal, copper, cotton, sugar and timber producers have either partially or completely offset this by diverting shipments to new buyers in other countries.
Lowy Institute chief economist Roland Rajah said only the nation’s wine traders had struggled to make up for the loss of their premium Chinese market.
Mr Rajah said that, with the exception of wine, the net loss to Australian exporters as a result of the bans — imposed over Australia’s call for an inquiry to the origins of COVID-19 — amounted to less than $1bn. But when all of Australia’s exports were taken into account, soaring iron ore prices had “completely swamped” the effect of the Chinese trade bans.
Read the full story, by Ben Packham and Rosie Lewis, here.
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