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Victoria records no new locally acquired cases, three in hotel quarantine
Today's numbers are in and Victoria has reached its seventh consecutive day without a new locally acquired COVID-19 case after nearly 18,000 tests were carried out yesterday.
Three cases have emerged in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
Yesterday, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt praised Victoria for having the highest testing rate in the country. In Victoria, 507 in every 1000 people are tested each day for COVID-19. Western Australia has the lowest testing rate in the country, with 253 tests per 1000 people.
'We need the vaccine with the best efficacy': Albanese says short Pfizer supply is an issue
By Natassia Chrysanthos
With concerns mounting about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has said it is an "issue" that Australia has not secured enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine for the whole country.
As we mentioned earlier, clinical trials show the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is the centrepiece of Australia's immunisation strategy, is 62 per cent effective when the recommended two doses are given, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95 per cent effective.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.Credit:Getty Images
Australia has secured 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and just 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Both require two doses.
"We don’t have enough access to enough [Pfizer] vaccines to roll them out across the country and that’s an issue," Mr Albanese told Sydney radio station 2GB this morning.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says Australia does not have access to enough vaccines.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"We need the vaccine with the best efficacy [and] we need it rolled out as soon as it's approved ... It's one of the reasons why we've argued very clearly we should be hedging our bets and having six horses in the race."
But when asked whether today's report shows that his previous calls to accelerate the vaccine rollout were premature, Mr Albanese said Labor had never argued "that we should circumvent or short circuit the [approval] process".
"Once [the Therapeutic Goods Administration] approves it, what we’ve said is: why would you then wait two months for the rollout? [It occurred in the UK and US] within a week," he said.
"We’ve argued strongly against the delayed rollout that was envisaged for late March. "The fact the rollout had been brought forward to February showed earlier timelines were always possible," Mr Albanese said.
How vaccines are made
Last year, science reporter Liam Mannix examined the global race to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
At the time, scientists at the University of Queensland were working on a molecular clamp vaccine. They were forced to abandon their efforts late last year after several trial participants returned false positive HIV test results.
The virus responsible for COVID-19, isolated from the first Australian coronavirus case and captured in this colorised transmission electron micrograph image.Credit:CSIRO
Now, there is doubt about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is the centrepiece of Australia's immunisation strategy. Australia has ordered enough AstraZeneca doses for 26.9 million people.
You can revisit Liam's explainer, here.
Scientists call for pause on AstraZeneca vaccine rollout
By James Manning
Let's take a closer look at the story dominating headlines this morning – the call to immediately pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology says the government should pause the planned AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rollout because it may not be effective enough to generate herd immunity. Clinical trials show the vaccine, which is the centrepiece of Australia's immunisation strategy, is 62 per cent effective when the recommended two doses are given, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95 per cent effective.
Ian Cormack prepares to receive a dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine in Edinburgh, Scotland, this month.Credit:Getty Images
"The AstraZeneca vaccine is not one I would be deploying widely, because of that lower efficacy," said Immunology Society president Professor Stephen Turner. "But it could be used as a tool to blunt the effect of COVID until [more effective] vaccines could be deployed." Other scientists said the government should focus on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. "Why would we settle for the second-best option?" asked Dr Andrew Miller, president of the Australian Medical Association's Western Australia branch.
Despite concerns over its effectiveness, there are no questions about the safety of the vaccine. And of the people given the jab who still contracted the virus, none developed a serious or life-threatening illness. Australia has ordered enough AstraZeneca doses for 26.9 million people, Pfizer jabs for 5 million people and no Moderna vaccines. However, it remains unproven if any of the vaccines prevent transmission. Inoculated people may still pass the virus on to others even if they don't get infected themselves, which is partly why scientists say establishing herd immunity with a high vaccination rate is crucial to eliminating the virus.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken recently about wanting to maximise confidence in the vaccine, suggesting he would get one on live TV. But chief political correspondent David Crowe argues the PM must call out the misinformation being spread within his own ranks by the likes of backbencher Craig Kelly, who has pushed conspiracies and called masks "child abuse". The Australian Medical Association has called for investment in long-term internet advertising to counter COVID-19 and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories, warning social media can "significantly magnify health misinformation campaigns".
For more science news, sign up to our new Examine newsletter, launching soon.
Front pages of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Global cases pass 91.2 million
Today, the global tally of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at 91,298,760, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The number of infections worldwide has doubled in just 10 weeks – COVID-19 infections had hit 45 million as recently as late October.
You can explore our data centre below:
Welcome to Wednesday's coverage
Hello and welcome to Wednesday's live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. It's Marissa Calligeros here coming to you from Brisbane.
Yesterday, the border wars again dominated headlines while the country recorded six cases of community transmission of the virus – here's a quick recap of where we are:
- Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she wouldn't be surprised if more close contacts of an infected hotel quarantine cleaner who contracted the highly contagious UK COVID-19 variant test positive in the coming days.
- Victoria recorded its sixth consecutive day without a new locally acquired case.
- NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the most important rule for Sydneysiders to follow at the moment is the limit on household visitors. She pleaded for more people to get tested, after five new cases of community transmission emerged.
- The ACT has partially relaxed its border restrictions for Greater Sydney, with residents of just 11 local government areas in the region to remain barred from entry to the territory.
- Coronavirus outbreaks linked to quarantine hotel breaches continue to cause chaos for interstate travellers. Sydneysiders cannot travel to Queensland or Victoria. Similarly, Victorians in Sydney or Greater Brisbane are barred from returning to their home state without an exemption.
Tuesday, as it happened: ACT border partially reopens to Greater Sydney as NSW records five new local COVID-19 cases; Victoria implements travel permit system
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2021-01-12 20:41:00Z
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