Vaccine roll out in Australia

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Chris Preston
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Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Chris Preston » Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:09 am

This will be a short and boring thread. The vaccine roll out will start in Western Australia later this month. Not every state is organised for getting the vaccine out yet. Allegedly, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by October.

The most excitement so far has been the suggestion by the hospitality industry in South Australia that there should be a No Jab, No Beer policy. The state government has said no way, but New South Wales might take it up.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sat Feb 06, 2021 6:29 pm

Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:09 am
This will be a short and boring thread. The vaccine roll out will start in Western Australia later this month. Not every state is organised for getting the vaccine out yet. Allegedly, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by October.

The most excitement so far has been the suggestion by the hospitality industry in South Australia that there should be a No Jab, No Beer policy. The state government has said no way, but New South Wales might take it up.
Which vaccines are they considering? Is there still a possibility of a Made In Australia vaccine or will they be imported?
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Fishnut » Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:02 pm

Herainestold wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 6:29 pm
Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:09 am
This will be a short and boring thread. The vaccine roll out will start in Western Australia later this month. Not every state is organised for getting the vaccine out yet. Allegedly, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by October.

The most excitement so far has been the suggestion by the hospitality industry in South Australia that there should be a No Jab, No Beer policy. The state government has said no way, but New South Wales might take it up.
Which vaccines are they considering? Is there still a possibility of a Made In Australia vaccine or will they be imported?
AstraZeneca has a factory in Melbourne where they'll be producing the bulk of the doses from what I understand. I don't know how true it is, but I was told by an Aussie that they'd said they would have to supply the EU and Aus would have to wait, but were told that they wouldn't get export permits until they'd supplied Australia.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Chris Preston » Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:06 pm

The current situation is that Australia has given provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine and full approval should occur in the next 2 weeks. There are 10 million doses available - the Government has just announced they will buy an additional 10 million doses, but we are unlikely to see those anytime soon. These will be used for the Phase 1a group (front line health care, quarantine workers, aged care residents) and most of Phase 1b group (over 70s, those with underlying health risks, ATSI, police, fire, meat workers). The AstraZeneca vaccine will likely be approved sometime in March. There are 53 million doses secured, 3 million imported and 50 million manufactured in Melbourne. These will cover everyone else in the country.

The Government also has on order 51 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, but that is unlikely to be approved before mid year.

The Australian response has been to allow the normal approval process for vaccines to run rather than have emergency authorisations; however, this has resulted in some political fall out due to the Prime Minister claiming that Australia was at the front of the queue for vaccines. The approval of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been brought forward a couple of weeks by changing the work flow, in part as a response to the vaccine supply problems in Europe. I believe the Pfizer doses are fully secured, but I doubt we will see the promised 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before late 2021. This doesn't matter to us, because we have an agreement to manufacture in Australia.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Grumble » Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:02 pm

Australia is in a so much better position from the off that the vaccine can afford to be late. I hope that remains the case. I’d far rather be at Australia’s case load and vaccines not being available for months than our case load and 11 million vaccines already delivered.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Martin_B » Sun Feb 07, 2021 3:31 am

Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:09 am
This will be a short and boring thread. The vaccine roll out will start in Western Australia later this month. Not every state is organised for getting the vaccine out yet. Allegedly, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by October.

The most excitement so far has been the suggestion by the hospitality industry in South Australia that there should be a No Jab, No Beer policy. The state government has said no way, but New South Wales might take it up.
I wonder why WA will be getting it first. I mean, we've just had a 5-day lockdown, but apart from that we're one of the best locations on the planet for dodging the virus, so apart from freeing up travel I'd have thought NSW or Victoria would be priorities in getting jabs.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:49 am

Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:06 pm
The current situation is that Australia has given provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine and full approval should occur in the next 2 weeks. There are 10 million doses available - the Government has just announced they will buy an additional 10 million doses, but we are unlikely to see those anytime soon. These will be used for the Phase 1a group (front line health care, quarantine workers, aged care residents) and most of Phase 1b group (over 70s, those with underlying health risks, ATSI, police, fire, meat workers). The AstraZeneca vaccine will likely be approved sometime in March. There are 53 million doses secured, 3 million imported and 50 million manufactured in Melbourne. These will cover everyone else in the country.

The Government also has on order 51 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, but that is unlikely to be approved before mid year.

The Australian response has been to allow the normal approval process for vaccines to run rather than have emergency authorisations; however, this has resulted in some political fall out due to the Prime Minister claiming that Australia was at the front of the queue for vaccines. The approval of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been brought forward a couple of weeks by changing the work flow, in part as a response to the vaccine supply problems in Europe. I believe the Pfizer doses are fully secured, but I doubt we will see the promised 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before late 2021. This doesn't matter to us, because we have an agreement to manufacture in Australia.
You guys really do have the time to develop your own vaccine. How long will it take to get the Astra Zeneca plant going? I don't imagine it is a quick process.
I hope you get your Pfizer vaccines, it s ounds like the European plant is really behind in getting doses out and the American plant is cranking them out like crazy, but there is an export ban, imposed by Trump which has not been rescinded by the new guy.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Bird on a Fire » Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:21 pm

Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:49 am
You guys really do have the time to develop your own vaccine.
What would be the point, though? There's already a whole bunch that work. I can't imagine it would be cheaper and/or quicker to develop a new one from scratch, test it, approve it and then manufacture it than just manufacturing one or more of the ready-to-go vaccines.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by shpalman » Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:46 pm

A University of Queensland vaccine was abandoned; an Australian company called Vaxine is working on something (Phase I trial registered anyway).

Also, a lot of other companies haven't just decided not to bother continuing with vaccine development just because we already have a few vaccines which work and also the AstraZeneca one.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:07 pm

Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:21 pm
Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:49 am
You guys really do have the time to develop your own vaccine.
What would be the point, though? There's already a whole bunch that work. I can't imagine it would be cheaper and/or quicker to develop a new one from scratch, test it, approve it and then manufacture it than just manufacturing one or more of the ready-to-go vaccines.
Some countries are having problems buying vaccines, and even difficulty in getting licensing agreements. If as a country you are producing your own
vaccines you aren't dependent on others. Also a locally developed vaccine will match the characteristics of the local populace better than a mass produced foreign vaccine.

Australia has a huge advantage, being a wealthy country, with no covid cases. A golden opportunity to be self sufficient in vaccines, and support the scientific establishment in the country.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:10 pm

shpalman wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:46 pm
A University of Queensland vaccine was abandoned; an Australian company called Vaxine is working on something (Phase I trial registered anyway).

Also, a lot of other companies haven't just decided not to bother continuing with vaccine development just because we already have a few vaccines which work and also the AstraZeneca one.
Yeah, I remember the Queensland vax. A good try. I believe Italy is developing its own. So we will end up with many vaccines that work and also the AstraZeneca one.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by shpalman » Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:22 pm

Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:07 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:21 pm
Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:49 am
You guys really do have the time to develop your own vaccine.
What would be the point, though? There's already a whole bunch that work. I can't imagine it would be cheaper and/or quicker to develop a new one from scratch, test it, approve it and then manufacture it than just manufacturing one or more of the ready-to-go vaccines.
Some countries are having problems buying vaccines, and even difficulty in getting licensing agreements. If as a country you are producing your own
vaccines you aren't dependent on others. Also a locally developed vaccine will match the characteristics of the local populace better than a mass produced foreign vaccine.

Australia has a huge advantage, being a wealthy country, with no covid cases. A golden opportunity to be self sufficient in vaccines, and support the scientific establishment in the country.
Well, if they have no covid cases, they won't be able to do a Phase III trial, so they'll have to do it in another country with a different "local populace" whatever that is supposed to mean.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:58 pm

shpalman wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:22 pm
Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:07 pm
Bird on a Fire wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:21 pm


What would be the point, though? There's already a whole bunch that work. I can't imagine it would be cheaper and/or quicker to develop a new one from scratch, test it, approve it and then manufacture it than just manufacturing one or more of the ready-to-go vaccines.
Some countries are having problems buying vaccines, and even difficulty in getting licensing agreements. If as a country you are producing your own
vaccines you aren't dependent on others. Also a locally developed vaccine will match the characteristics of the local populace better than a mass produced foreign vaccine.

Australia has a huge advantage, being a wealthy country, with no covid cases. A golden opportunity to be self sufficient in vaccines, and support the scientific establishment in the country.
Well, if they have no covid cases, they won't be able to do a Phase III trial, so they'll have to do it in another country with a different "local populace" whatever that is supposed to mean.
Valid point. Local populace is people who are living locally.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Chris Preston » Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:55 pm

Martin_B wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 3:31 am
Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:09 am
This will be a short and boring thread. The vaccine roll out will start in Western Australia later this month. Not every state is organised for getting the vaccine out yet. Allegedly, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by October.

The most excitement so far has been the suggestion by the hospitality industry in South Australia that there should be a No Jab, No Beer policy. The state government has said no way, but New South Wales might take it up.
I wonder why WA will be getting it first. I mean, we've just had a 5-day lockdown, but apart from that we're one of the best locations on the planet for dodging the virus, so apart from freeing up travel I'd have thought NSW or Victoria would be priorities in getting jabs.
WA may not be the first on their own. The states need to have a plan in place for distribution prior to vaccine roll out. Not all states have those yet. WA is the only state that has announced a start date, suggesting they are ready to go with their plan approved. Other states have announced partial plans, but given no start date.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Chris Preston » Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:59 pm

Herainestold wrote:
Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:49 am
Chris Preston wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:06 pm
The current situation is that Australia has given provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine and full approval should occur in the next 2 weeks. There are 10 million doses available - the Government has just announced they will buy an additional 10 million doses, but we are unlikely to see those anytime soon. These will be used for the Phase 1a group (front line health care, quarantine workers, aged care residents) and most of Phase 1b group (over 70s, those with underlying health risks, ATSI, police, fire, meat workers). The AstraZeneca vaccine will likely be approved sometime in March. There are 53 million doses secured, 3 million imported and 50 million manufactured in Melbourne. These will cover everyone else in the country.

The Government also has on order 51 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, but that is unlikely to be approved before mid year.

The Australian response has been to allow the normal approval process for vaccines to run rather than have emergency authorisations; however, this has resulted in some political fall out due to the Prime Minister claiming that Australia was at the front of the queue for vaccines. The approval of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been brought forward a couple of weeks by changing the work flow, in part as a response to the vaccine supply problems in Europe. I believe the Pfizer doses are fully secured, but I doubt we will see the promised 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before late 2021. This doesn't matter to us, because we have an agreement to manufacture in Australia.
You guys really do have the time to develop your own vaccine. How long will it take to get the Astra Zeneca plant going? I don't imagine it is a quick process.
I hope you get your Pfizer vaccines, it s ounds like the European plant is really behind in getting doses out and the American plant is cranking them out like crazy, but there is an export ban, imposed by Trump which has not been rescinded by the new guy.
No point in making a separate vaccine from scratch, when there are vaccines already available and working. Australia has the capacity to make the AstraZeneca vaccine and have already tooled up to do it. They don't have the facilities to make the mRNA vaccines. They are plans to build a facility to do this, but it will be years before it is functional and it is being done for the next pandemic.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by jdc » Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:13 pm

Australian scientists defending the AZ vaccine - AstraZeneca: Well, It's Better Than Nothing
“I commend your readers to get any vaccine that is offered to them, because it will reduce severity,” McLaws told Guardian Australia. “Any vaccine is better than no vaccine. If you do get the virus it will improve your outcomes, your response, and you may not get severe Covid.”

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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by shpalman » Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:36 pm

jdc wrote:
Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:13 pm
Australian scientists defending the AZ vaccine - AstraZeneca: Well, It's Better Than Nothing
“I commend your readers to get any vaccine that is offered to them, because it will reduce severity,” McLaws told Guardian Australia. “Any vaccine is better than no vaccine. If you do get the virus it will improve your outcomes, your response, and you may not get severe Covid.”
“At the moment, I can absolutely say – and this may change in future, and we will be nimble in the way we look at that information and putting that into our planning – but at the moment, there’s no evidence anywhere in the world that AstraZeneca effectiveness against severe infection is affected by any of these variants of concern. And that is the fact.”
Was that just because in the limited trial (the one with the ~10% effectiveness against the SA variant for mild infection, or whatever, not sure), there were no severe variant infections neither in the vaccine group nor in the control group, so we can absolutely say that there's no evidence anywhere in the world that AstraZeneca is effective against severe infection from the SA variant?
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:17 pm

shpalman wrote:
Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:36 pm
jdc wrote:
Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:13 pm
Australian scientists defending the AZ vaccine - AstraZeneca: Well, It's Better Than Nothing
“I commend your readers to get any vaccine that is offered to them, because it will reduce severity,” McLaws told Guardian Australia. “Any vaccine is better than no vaccine. If you do get the virus it will improve your outcomes, your response, and you may not get severe Covid.”
“At the moment, I can absolutely say – and this may change in future, and we will be nimble in the way we look at that information and putting that into our planning – but at the moment, there’s no evidence anywhere in the world that AstraZeneca effectiveness against severe infection is affected by any of these variants of concern. And that is the fact.”
Was that just because in the limited trial (the one with the ~10% effectiveness against the SA variant for mild infection, or whatever, not sure), there were no severe variant infections neither in the vaccine group nor in the control group, so we can absolutely say that there's no evidence anywhere in the world that AstraZeneca is effective against severe infection from the SA variant?
In other words,with respect to SA variant and AZ vaccine, there is no evidence..period.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by shpalman » Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:40 pm

Absence of evidence is evidence of absence when it's the outcome you want.
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by beatrix » Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:09 am

Grumble wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:02 pm
Australia is in a so much better position from the off that the vaccine can afford to be late. I hope that remains the case. I’d far rather be at Australia’s case load and vaccines not being available for months than our case load and 11 million vaccines already delivered.
I mean, I 100% agree with you, intellectually. However, my partner lives with a flatmate who is extremely high risk. I know I won't be seeing him until all three of us are vaccinated AND it's been shown to have an effect on community transmission. I know it's selfish but I wish we could hurry up with the vaccine.

Maybe I'm just feeling like having a moan as Melbourne goes into a snap 5-day lockdown. Again, intellectually I know that's the sensible thing to do and in any case I have it pretty good, but...
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:20 am

Australia still has time to make their own.
I was reading that Canada is going to make their own mRNA vax, because of difficulties importing vaccines.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/wel ... D=ref_fark+++
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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Squeak » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:01 pm

Today! Finally, the rollout begins. :)

Pfizer for the highest priority recipients, with Astra Zenica to follow for us less vulnerable folk.

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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by bjn » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:49 am

Are they talking about reopening the borders to vaccinated people yet? I wouldn’t mind seeing my family at some point.

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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Clem Fandango » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:25 am

Loud boos from the Australian Open crowd when a vaccine was mentioned in a post match speech. Oddly I don't remember any booing during a similar speech after the women's final yesterday.

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Re: Vaccine roll out in Australia

Post by Herainestold » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:45 pm

So Australia is going to take even more vaccines from the beleagured European supply! (joke) No wonder there is a Pfizer shortage.
Good plan to make their own Astra Zeneca jabs and it sounds like they are already being churned out.
Good Luck to you all.
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