‘Steady as she goes’ in Covid-19 vaccine rollout

Health authorities believe the timeline for vaccinating the ­nation’s most vulnerable people will be will largely unaffected by recommendation that under-50s receive the Pfizer rather than the AstraZeneca jab.

Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Gary Ramage

Health authorities believe the timeline for vaccinating the ­nation’s most vulnerable people will be will largely unaffected by recommendation that under-50s receive the Pfizer rather than the AstraZeneca jab.

But the government cannot say if the switch to Pfizer for younger people will cause a blowout in waiting times for the less at-risk members of the community.

Scott Morrison announced the government had secured an extra 20 million Pfizer jabs in the wake the decision to recommend it rather than AstraZeneca for under-50s.

But many of the extra doses will not become available until the final three months of the year.

The federal government had anticipated four million doses would be administered by the end of March, and all Australians vaccinated by October.

On Friday, Australia reached more than one million doses ­administered since the vaccination rollout began on February 22.

The highest priority elements of the vaccination program continued largely unaffected by the switch on Friday.

Phase 1A candidates, which include quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, aged care and disability staff and residents, are already ­receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

Those in phase 1B — which includes people aged over 70 and 80, Indigenous people over 55, and critical and high-risk workers and began on March 22 — are ­receiving a combination of Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Friday that this phase ­remained “largely unchanged” despite the new health advice.

However, people under 50 in this phase could wait longer for a jab while the government worked to secure available Pfizer supplies.

“With regards to phase 1B, this is the over-70s and the over-80s and over-55 Indigenous Australians. All of those can receive, with the strongest medical advice, the AstraZeneca,” Mr Hunt said.

“For those who may be immunocompromised or frontline workers who are under 50, then right now we are working with the states and territories and the medical authorities to revise that part of the program so as they have access to Pfizer. That will take time.”

Based on the original timeline of the vaccination rollout, the ­majority of Australians were ­expected to have received their first dose of the vaccine in community pharmacies from next month. This was laid out as phase 2A inclusive of adults over 50 and 60, Indigenous people aged 18 to 54, and other critical and high-risk workers, while phase 2B was the rest of the adult population.

Mr Morrison on Friday said he was not in a position to confirm a new timeline for the rollout following the change in health ­advice surrounding the AstraZeneca jabs, and would not be drawn to set a date on when the majority of Australians could ­expect their first dose.

Mr Hunt said supplies of Pfizer doses would be ramped up in the next few weeks and significantly expand again in May and nearly-double from July. The first deliveries of Australia’s Novavax vaccines are also expected to start arriving between July and September, pending regulatory ­approval.