COVID-19 vaccine arrival points Tassie in new direction

It was a seemingly ordinary Qantas flight that touched down at Hobart airport, but it was actually bringing some very precious cargo to the state. READ THE EDITORIAL >>

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A QANTAS flight has touched down at Hobart airport carrying 390 vials of coronavirus vaccines destined for high-priority Tasmanians.

Sunday’s arrival of the Pfizer vaccines comes amid the nationwide rollout, with plans to vaccinate more than 20 million Australians by the end of October.

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The Qantas flight carrying the Pfizer vaccines lands at Hobart airport on Sunday afternoon. Picture:Chris Kidd

“Excited” Health Minister Sarah Courtney said each vial contained between five and six doses of the vaccine, transported in two trays carrying 195 vials each.

“One tray is being allocated to the federal government for provision into aged care and disability care and one of those trays is being delivered to the Royal Hobart Hospital,” she said.

Ms Courtney said the RHH would receive one tray a week for the next three weeks, after which time trays for the North West Regional Hospital and the Launceston General Hospital will arrive.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

But the Minister said most Tasmanians won’t receive their jab for “many months”, with only those who fit the state government’s criteria for group 1A able to receive the first vaccines from Tuesday and into mid to late April.

“1A in terms of the rollout from the state government is allocated to our frontline healthcare workers, such as those working in the emergency department, and some of our paramedics,” Ms Courtney said.

“We’ll also be delivering those to our workers who are at those quarantine hotels accepting arrivals from overseas.

“We are still receiving arrivals of seasonal workers and so it is important that those high-risk locations are the first ones to be able to receive the vaccine.”

Coronavirus vaccinations will begin in Tasmania on Tuesday. Picture: OLI SCARFF/AFP

Ms Courtney said the first recipients were being contacted and booked in for their first vaccination, followed by their second vaccination three weeks later.

She said the first week would include “1000-odd jabs”.

The vials need to be stored frozen below -70C.

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Ms Courtney said she was classified as belonging to group 2B, but was open to “rolling up my sleeve” earlier if recommended due to her role as Health Minister.

She said the government would send clear messaging on when to book vaccines.

“If you are in a regional area of Tasmania, please be assured we will come to your area.

“If you’ve got underlying health conditions, your GP or your pharmacist will be able to provide to you the advice that you need for your particular circumstances.

“Obviously there will be certain cohorts such as pregnant and breastfeeding women that will need to seek their own individual advice.

“Please make sure that you remain engaged with the messaging from the government so that you know when it’s your turn.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison received the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Australian Medical Association Tasmania president Dr Helen McArdle reminded Tasmanians the Therapeutic Goods Administration has deemed the vaccine to be safe based on clinical international trials and evidence.

“It’s important for people to understand where they sit in the phase rollout and to know where they can access the vaccine, and to know that it’ll be free,” she said.

Ms McArdle said the AMA was liaising with the health department to ensure safe rollouts, as many of the association’s members will be among the first locals to get the jab.

EDITORIAL: JAB HOPE HAS ARRIVED

TODAY is the day many have been waiting for as the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine begins across Australia.

For more than a year the pandemic has been wreaking havoc across the globe. Official figures show more than 111 million cases with 2.46 million deaths as the ruthless disease has swept the world.

Health authorities warned that little would change until large portions of the population were vaccinated. So, the race to develop an effective inoculation has been the major priority of the scientific ­community.

Tasmania’s allocation of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in the state on Sunday and the first to receive the jabs will be those in the community who are most vulnerable and those whose job it is to care for them.

That means thousands of aged care residents, frontline healthcare workers, quarantine and border staff, as well as aged care and disability carers will receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Next in line will be other health care workers, emergency workers, elderly adults 70 years and older, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over 55 and younger adults with underlying medical conditions.

The third, fourth and fifth rollouts will involve the rest of the adult population and those under 18 if medical authorities ­recommend it.

Australians will receive the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines, and each requires two doses at least 21 days apart to be fully effective. It will be an involved and lengthy exercise in logistics.

Tasmanians should have confidence in the vaccines and not hesitate to get them when their turn comes.

No one likes to receive a needle, but, even though the vaccines have been developed in record time, they are proving to be safe and effective.

One of the advantages Australia enjoys is that the vaccines have already been tested across the globe. More than 200 million doses have been given worldwide and there have been very few reported serious side ­effects.

Death rates have dropped since the vaccinations began and the instances of serious disease have also tapered off.

The COVID-19 vaccines give us hope, but the battle is far from over.

While Australia has managed to keep the virus largely in check, coronavirus continues to swamp the United States (78,018 new cases on Sunday) India, Brazil, the UK and Russia. Europe, too, is still getting smashed with France, Italy, Spain and Germany suffering from tens of thousands of new infections a day.

Any “return to normal” must involve the good habits we have learned from this pandemic — washing hands, covering coughs and staying away from work and social settings when you are sick. There is still a long way to go before we conquer this beast.