Daniel Andrews opens Pfizer floodgates for under-40s thanks to Scott Morrison’s Poland deal

All Victorians aged 16 to 39 will be eligible for vaccination with Pfizer at state-run clinics from Wednesday morning after the federal government’s deal with Poland.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

All Victorians aged 16 to 39 will be eligible for vaccination with Pfizer at state-run clinics from Wednesday morning after the federal government’s deal with Poland enabled the Andrews government to expand availability.

The announcement from Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday followed months of confusion for under-40s, who were initially barred from receiving Vaxzevria (formerly AstraZeneca) on the basis of advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, resulting from the very slight risk of blood clots as a side-effect of the vaccine.

Following the revision of that advice, hundreds of thousands of under-40s have since opted to be vaccinated with Vaxzevria rather than waiting for Pfizer, with Victoria this month following NSW in making it available to the younger age group at state-run clinics.

Many young people have been holding out for Pfizer, given it remains ATAGI’s preferred vaccine for their age group, leaving a ­national stockpile of more than six million unused doses of Vaxzevria.

Mr Andrews announced he would be making 830,000 extra appointments available to 16 to 39 year olds at 55 vaccination hubs across the state from 7am on Wednesday, 450,000 of which would be for Pfizer.

While 18-39-year-olds will be given a choice between Vaxzevria and Pfizer, 16 and 17-year-olds will be given Pfizer.

Vaxzevria remains the preferred vaccine for those aged 60 and over, given the already slight risk of clotting is even smaller in older age groups.

Asked whether there was a risk his announcement would prolong Victoria’s vaccination process by encouraging under 40s who had previously been willing to get Vaxzevria to instead wait for Pfizer, Mr Andrews said: “Mate, if you want to blame me for the fact we don‘t have enough vaccines, like, really? Seriously?! I am getting into people’s arms as fast as I can.

“I didn’t do the ordering and I do not provide medical advice on what is safe and what isn’t. That’s for others. But I won’t stay here and say to people, ‘You must get Astra today’ when I have Pfizer in the fridge. That wouldn’t be right.

“Be in no doubt, this is not our program. We are helping out. We are pleased to do that. We’re doing much more than we ever signed on for, and we’ll do it as best we possibly can … but if anyone’s got a problem with what was ordered and when, what advice was provided and when, then speak to the people who provided that ­advice, not me.”

He said about 1.2 million Victorians aged between 16 and 39 were yet to receive a vaccine dose.

Victoria recorded 50 community-acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday: 40 were immediately linked to known outbreaks, with Covid logistics chief Jeroen Weimar reporting that while direct epidemiological links were yet to be established for the remaining 10, contact tracers were confident they knew which clusters they were likely to belong to.

Just 11 of the 50 cases were in quarantine throughout their ­infectious period.