Jabs roll-up call tested as high-vax nations face lockdown relapses

Josh Frydenberg’s claim that getting vaccinated will make lockdowns ‘a thing of the past’ is set to be tested as countries with high vaccination rates impose fresh Covid-19 restrictions.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Josh Frydenberg’s claim that getting vaccinated will make lockdowns “a thing of the past” and be Australia’s ticket “out of this crisis” is set to be tested as countries with high vaccination rates impose fresh Covid-19 restrictions.

With more than 16 per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated, the Treasurer on Monday issued a call to arms for more Australians to access Covid-19 jabs.

“Go and get vaccinated. If you want your family to be safe, go and get vaccinated.

“If you want to make lockdowns a thing of the past, go and get vaccinated. If you want Australia to open up, go and get vaccinated,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“Getting vaccinated is our ticket out of this crisis. Significantly, there is now alignment between the medical advice and the situation on the ground in Greater Sydney.”

Singapore and Israel – which have world-leading vaccination rates – have imposed new lockdowns and restrictions in response to a wave of cases linked to the highly contagious Delta variant. Singapore’s Health Ministry released data showing vaccinated individuals accounted for 75 per cent of Singapore’s Covid-19 infections in the past four weeks.

Those who had been fully vaccinated were not among cases reporting serious illness and had registered mild or no symptoms.

“There is continuing evidence that vaccination helps to prevent serious disease when one gets infected. Over the last 28 days, 15 local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to ICU or passed away; six are unvaccinated, nine are partially vaccinated and none was fully vaccinated,” a health ministry statement said.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant has forced the Israeli government to reimpose Covid-19 restrictions under its policy of “soft suppression”, with 101 people currently hospitalised with serious illness. After removing Covid-19 restrictions, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is struggling to manage daily surges of Delta variant cases and related deaths.

Mr Frydenberg said “what is very clear is that when you have outbreaks, the priority must be on quickly getting vaccinated”.

“What I do welcome is the new advice from ATAGI which makes it very clear that for adults in Greater Sydney, the advice is to go and get vaccinated, and not to wait for alternative vaccines,” he said.

“Go and get vaccinated. In the case of AstraZeneca, as the Prime Minister said, 1.3 million doses are available. This is a vaccine that we are making here in Australia under licence through CSL.”

An RACGP article published last week said new research in The New England Journal of Medicine had confirmed “that both AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid vaccines have a lower efficacy against Delta, with a single dose of either vaccine around 30 per cent effective against the strain, compared to 48 per cent for the Alpha ­variant.

“However, after two doses, only modest differences were observed, with Pfizer 88 per cent effective against Delta compared to 93 per cent for Alpha, and AstraZeneca 67 per cent effective against Delta and 74.5 per cent for Alpha,” the report said.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant on Monday said the “data is so clear that if you are vaccinated and get infected, you are less likely to transmit it to others”.