[ad_1]
Australia’s top scientists could push for a second round of Covid-19 vaccinations if the nation fails to reach herd immunity in its first program.
The government has supply agreements in place for the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines and will start rolling out the Pfizer jab next month.
Approval by regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration is expected by the end of the month, and injections begin in mid-February and finish in October.
But the program has come under scrutiny in recent weeks over concerns the Oxford vaccine is not effective enough to secure herd immunity.
Professor Allan Cheng, co-chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, said Australians may be required to receive the jab twice, in four separate injections, if a different vaccine was determined to be more effective.
Australians may be required to be jab twice if their initial COVID-19 vaccine is later found to be less effective than other contenders
However, Professor Cheng said the immediate aim of Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine plan was to ensure the country was protected from the disease by inoculating all Australians during the the program.
‘We’re going for protection to start with; we want to stop people getting sick and dying,’ Professor Cheng told The Australian.
‘That will mean that we will give the vaccine firstly to people who are at the highest risk of getting sick and dying.’
‘And if you need vaccines again in the future, we’ll be ready for that. But it’s better to get one now than not to get one.’
He said accomplishing herd community was a ‘long term’ goal, and it would become clear during later stages of the program which contender was best at preventing transmissions.
Those who first received a weaker vaccine would then be given a dose of the more effective immunisation.
The government plans to vaccinate five million Australians with the Pfizer jab, which is imported from overseas, and give everyone else the AstraZeneca jab, which is being made in Melbourne.
Doctors raised concerns about the strategy because the AstraZeneca vaccine is between 62 and 90 per cent effective whereas the Pfizer jab is effective 95 per cent of the time.
Professor Allan Cheng (pictured) said a second rollout would be part of the country’s ‘long term’ goal of herd immunity, as it became clear which vaccine was best at preventing COVID-19 transmissions
If herd immunity is not attained during the first rollout, Professor Cheng said Australians could still expect further easing of restrictions if a large portion of the population were vaccinated as the likelihood of outbreaks would be reduced.
Professor Cheng, an infectious diseases chief at Alfred Health and professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at Monash University, said it was still too early to determine whether any vaccinations would be able to create herd immunity.
Despite clinical trials, Professor Cheng said there is not enough data available to ascertain how long vaccine immunity would last and whether it would prevent transmission.
Australia’s top advisers will be keeping a close eye on other countries to determine which vaccines worked best and the duration of their immunity, he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also ordered 51 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, which is still in trials.
If it is approved, it will be made available in Australia later this year.
Professor Cheng said Australia would be watching other countries to determine the efficacy of vaccines and the duration of immunity. Pictured: Health care workers at a COVID-19 drive through testing clinic at Murarrie in Brisbane on Friday
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian broached the possibility of barring those who decline the Covid-19 vaccine from government-run buildings, as well as permitting private venues to adopt similar measures.
As the planned February rollout of the vaccine nears, the NSW government is considering a data-sharing partnership with the federal government that would help residents prove they have been immunised.
Ms Berejiklian has previously suggested the Service NSW smartphone app could show a tick when a person is vaccinated, enabling venue entry.
‘The more people that are vaccinated, the greater likelihood we can have a return to normality as we know it,’ Ms Berejiklian told 2GB radio.
‘Already airlines have indicated that if you’re not vaccinated you can’t travel overseas and I think that’ll be an incentive to a lot of people.
‘But we’ll also consider whether we allow venues … make up their own rules if they have a business or run a workplace about what they feel is Covid-safe.’
[ad_2]
Source link