Over a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first shipment of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has arrived in Australia. There are now 142,000 doses on Australian soil, undergoing final checks before the start of a planned vaccine rollout. We spoke with infectious disease expert, Associate Professor Paul Griffin who explains what the rollout will look like and reminds us that safety has been absolutely paramount in vaccine development.
“Rollout of the Pfizer vaccine begins in Australia this week, marking a significant step in the fight against COVID-19. I can certainly appreciate that there is some hesitancy around receiving this vaccine. One of the major minefields we’ve been navigating is that of misinformation, which has spread quicker than the virus itself. I think it’s important to remind people that we haven’t skipped any of the usual steps associated with vaccine development, and people can be assured that this vaccine has the safety and efficacy data to support its use.
“We are very confident in our regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) which is one of the most rigorous regulators in the world. If they approve something, we can be extremely confident that it is both safe and effective. There are a number of really reputable sources of information that people should pay close attention to, this includes the Federal Government, State Governments and Health Departments, GPs and Pharmacies etc. The main thing that will dictate how well this vaccine works will be the uptake by the community, and that’s what we really need people to do now,” said A/Prof Griffin.
Australia has an agreement with Pfizer to provide a total of 3 million doses over the months of April, May and June. Of the initial 142,000 doses, Health Minister Greg Hint has advised that 80,000 have been allocated as first doses of the two-jab vaccine and 62,000 will be reserved for use as second doses.
Vaccine doses will be available through 30 - 50 hospital sites across Australia - in metro and regional areas (pending advice from states and territories) plus in residential aged care and disability care facilities.[1]
“Rollout of the vaccine is a major logistical exercise which is being led by the Federal Government and will require a multi-disciplinary approach. There is a nationally agreed prioritisation system that is widely available which has been designed to allow us to get as much as possible from this vaccine in a short period of time.
“Firstly, the vaccine will be administered to large hubs such as public hospitals which will then deliver doses to the community. Initially, doses will be administered to those that are at highest risk of acquiring the infection, including hotel quarantine workers, frontline healthcare workers and aged care residents and workers. This will then be expanded to those that are not only at high risk of acquiring the infection, but those that are at risk of developing more serious diseases if they acquire the infection. People in these subsequent tiers include the elderly and people with comorbidities,” said A/Prof Griffin.
Following last week’s approval by the TGA, the AstraZeneca vaccine will now also begin rollout in Australia in late March. With 53.8 million doses secured by Australia, 50 million of them to be made in Melbourne by medical giant CSL, it is expected that most Australians will receive this vaccine rather than the Pfizer vaccine.
“I really encourage people to be informed, get their information from reputable sources and as soon as they are able to, turn up get the vaccine so we can start to see the impact of that on a broader scale in this country,” said A/Prof Griffin.
