Ready to jab despite NSW deluge delay
The AstraZeneca rollout is being heralded as an important day in the history of Australia’s pandemic response, but NSW faces imminent delays.
Australia’s medicines regulator has given the green light to local manufacturing of the AstraZeneca vaccine ahead of the start of the second phase of the immunisation program on Monday.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration approval, which came late on Sunday, will allow CSL to manufacture the coronavirus vaccine at its two Melbourne production sites — Broadmeadows and Parkville.
“Today’s approval is a critical and very exciting milestone in Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the TGA said in a statement. “Specific approval of Australian manufacturing by TGA was required to ensure that the locally manufactured vaccine had exactly the same composition and performance as overseas-manufactured vaccine, was made to the same quality and is free of contaminants.”
From Monday, more than 1000 GPs will join the vaccination program as it moves into Phase 1B, which is aimed at inoculating six million vulnerable people including those aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 55, and healthcare workers.
More than 200,000 doses have been allocated to GPs across the country, with another 50,000 sent to respiratory clinics.
While Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said not all clinics would begin vaccinations on Monday, officials were confident supply would continue to ramp up over the coming weeks.
“We’ve been encouraged by the 4000 GPs who have now received vaccination approval, which will come online as vaccine supplies increase to 400,000 doses over the coming weeks,” Professor Kidd said. “The government had initially hoped at least 2000 practices would participate and we are delighted this has grown to over 4000.”
Nicole Fogarty, a GP at Double Bay Doctors in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, said her clinic was “ready and raring” for the vaccine rollout to begin at 9am on Monday, with almost 1000 patients booked to receive the jab in coming weeks.
“We received our first batch of doses on Friday and we feel like we’re on target and prepared for Monday,” she said. “We were taken by surprise last week by the online booking system (HealthEngine), but we’re fortunate that we’ve got a strong IT team, so we could set up a fantastic online booking system that we can control and manage.” Dr Fogarty said the clinic was “not worried about the current levels of supply”.
However, concerns remain over the number of vaccine allocations, with some clinics receiving only 50 doses a week for their most elderly and unwell patients.
Asked if he was worried about the restricted number of vaccines available, Professor Kidd said “until the CSL facility comes online, we’re dependent on the shipments which have arrived from overseas”.
Omar Khorshid, the president of the Australian Medical Association, said Monday’s rollout “marks a critical milestone in our pandemic response”.
“Obviously there will be disruptions with weather conditions across NSW, and we understand there will be delivery delays,” he said. “But so far we’re very pleased to see the phase begin.”
Dr Khorshid said it would likely be a slow start “but once we have GP respiratory centres and state vaccine centres working well together and more supply, we will continue to see the rollout ramp up, especially over the next three months”.
Similarly, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price said Monday’s rollout was “frustrating at one level and exciting at another”.
“It’s a hugely complex situation and to expect it will run smoothly, without any challenges, is misplaced,” Dr Price said.
Meanwhile, flooding across parts of NSW is expected to delay the state’s Phase 1B rollout, particularly along the North Coast.
“The distributors are doing all they can to ensure timely deliveries,” Professor Kidd said. “We thank them for the work they are doing, but there will be some inevitable delays.”
The federal Health Department said it did not know how many clinics would be affected.
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