Young won’t back away from AstraZeneca warning

Epidemiologists and commonwealth officials have repudiated Queensland chief health officer’s repeated comments discouraging young people from having the AstraZeneca ­vaccine.

Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young announces an extension to the Covid-19 lockdown. Picture: Brad Fleet

Epidemiologists and commonwealth officials have repudiated Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young’s repeated comments discouraging young people from having the AstraZeneca ­vaccine, as the outbreak in southeast Queensland escalated.

Dr Young’s stance on Monday that she didn’t want 18-year-olds being given the vaccine was at odds with official advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, which recommended all adults in hotspots should “strongly consider” speaking to their doctor about taking the vaccine.

Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd said the outbreak in southeast Queensland, which has put 11 local government areas under lockdown, met the threshold to be considered “significant”.

“ATAGI has reaffirmed their previous advice that in a large outbreak, the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca are greater than the risk of the side effects occurring, for all age groups,” Dr Kidd said.

“The ATAGI advice remains that Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for those under 60 but the AstraZeneca vaccine is available to anyone over the age of 18.

“But we are wanting people to have a discussion with their trusted medical practitioner, general practitioner, and to provide informed consent before they receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Dr Kidd’s advice came hours after Dr Young said she “remained firm” on her edict from June that she did not want young people to be given the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“They (under 60s) need to – as per the ATAGI advice and the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) advice, and advice if you look around the world – if they think they have a particular risk, immediately go and talk to their own doctor,” Dr Young said.

“I said I didn’t want 18-year-olds to have AstraZeneca, and I still don’t.”

In June, Dr Young said she didn’t want under 40s to get the AstraZeneca vaccine and raised concerns about 18-year-olds “dying from a clotting illness”.

On Monday, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said, “in terms of Queensland”, the ATAGI advice had been “reframed” since it discouraged people under 60 from taking the vaccine.

“If you are over 60, AstraZeneca is the preferred vaccine,” he said. “If you are under 60, it is something that in a hotspot … ­people should strongly consider, and more broadly than that, anybody can consult their doctor and seek advice.”

Concerns have been raised about the effect of Dr Young’s rhetoric on a population already wary of vaccines. The University of Melbourne’s Vaccine Hesitancy Report Card released last week showed Queensland, at 30.8 per cent, had the highest vaccine hesitancy in the country.

University of Queensland ­infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin said authorities needed to be careful about how they discussed vaccines to avoid increasing hesitancy.

“I think we need to be really careful with the messaging here and I think sometimes … in terms of saying things like ‘I don’t want a young person to die from this vaccine’ is a very emotive sort of a message,” Dr Griffin said.

“I think we need to be really clear about it, that it’s a vaccine that is safe and effective.”

Additional reporting: Greg Brown