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Government still waiting on advice for vaccines for children aged 12 to 15
By Broede Carmody
As you might already know, year 12 students in Sydney’s coronavirus hotspots have been receiving the Pfizer jab and, from today, people aged 16 and 17 (and beyond) can book their Pfizer jab in Victoria.
But what about younger age groups?
COVID-19 taskforce commander Lieutenant-General John Frewen.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
On Friday, national cabinet is set to discuss the vaccine rollout for 12- to 15-year-olds.
Lieutenant-General John Frewen says the federal government is still waiting to hear what the country’s chief vaccine advisory group, ATAGI, has to say about that age group.
Here’s what he told ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning:
Already, 12- to 15-year-olds with other conditions and Indigenous kids can access Pfizer
Once we have the ATAGI advice, we are developing plans to open up to those [broader] cohorts. We are working on a youth vaccination plan that will help us get to all of those kids in that age group, whether they are [students] or kids in care and the like, but the supply is coming.
We will have Moderna from the middle of next month and lots of Pfizer coming in October.
We are working with the states and territories. I think school-based vaccination could be a big part of the program. We are also looking at a program where we might be able to book families in so that parents and kids can get done together.
Victoria records 45 new cases of COVID-19
By Broede Carmody
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state has recorded 45 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and zero in hotel quarantine.
The Department of Health says of today’s new cases, 36 are linked to existing outbreaks. This means there are, at this stage, nine mystery cases.
Twenty-eight people were not in isolation for their entire infectious period.
There are now 538 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria.
Today’s numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 53,321 coronavirus tests.
Victoria’s vaccine booking website experiencing high demand
By Mathew Dunckley
Victoria’s newly expanded vaccination program is causing issues for its online booking service.
The state has opened up access to Pfizer shots for everyone over 16 years of age.
As we reported last night, the move has sparked a surge of cancellations for AstraZeneca appointments.
People trying to access Victoria’s booking system this morning were greeted with this holding message.
Victoria’s vaccine booking website is currently experiencing high demand.
We’d like to hear from readers about their experience of trying to book a vaccine.
Use the form below.
Australia’s future case numbers will depend on contact tracing: Doherty Institute boss
By Broede Carmody
The director of the Doherty Institute, whose modelling underlies the national plan to reopen Australia, says the country’s future COVID-19 caseload will hinge on contact tracing efforts.
Sharon Lewin made an appearance on the Today show this morning and was asked what Australia’s daily COVID-19 case numbers and deaths could look like once the country reopens due to 70 to 80 per cent of adults being vaccinated.
“It depends on the health measures that come with the high level of vaccination,” she said.
“If they are optimal – that means you ... test, trace and isolate – the estimates are in the thousands of cases over a six-month period and deaths under 20. That is the sort of prediction for a six-month period after opening up.”
NSW’s fully vaccinated freedoms will be safe and ‘practical’, Deputy Premier says
By Broede Carmody
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro was also on Sunrise this morning.
He was asked whether it’s a done deal if people in NSW will soon be able to visit the hairdresser now that 6 million coronavirus jabs have gone into arms. (On the provision that both the hairdresser and client are fully vaccinated.)
Here’s what the state Nationals leader had to say:
As the minister responsible for the roadmap [out of lockdown], it may be more. It may be only the one [rule that eases].
There are actually a number of options in front of the crisis committee that we will consider. We’ve had some advice from the chief psychiatrist about what makes people feel better, what are those freedoms that you can give someone that allows them to feel confident ... and maybe give them a bit of hope that we’re getting to the end of it.
There’s a few options. We’ll make a decision [soon] about which ones are practical and ones that don’t risk a further spread. We’re almost there. We’ll announce something shortly.
No ‘sanctions’ but states need to stick to reopening plan: Treasurer
By Broede Carmody
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is doing the media rounds this morning.
He was speaking on Seven’s breakfast program Sunrise just moments ago. As regular readers of this will know, much has been made this week of Australia’s vaccine targets and subsequent plan to reopen internally and to the world.
Treasurer Josh Frydneberg wants all state and territory leaders to stick to the national reopening plan. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The Prime Minister says Australia needs to emerge from its lockdown “cave” for the good of the economy and people’s mental health once 70 to 80 per cent of people are vaccinated against COVID-19. The idea is to eventually treat coronavirus like the flu.
However, some premiers have flagged keeping hard borders in place even after their jurisdictions have high vaccination rates.
The Treasurer told Sunrise he is confident that state and territory leaders will stick to the national plan once they realise the extent of public support. (As we reported earlier, the majority of voters back national cabinet’s plan to ease coronavirus restrictions off the back of high vaccination rates.)
Here’s what Mr Frydenberg had to say when asked what the Morrison government would do if all state and territory leaders don’t honour their national cabinet agreements:
I wouldn’t use that term sanctions but what I would say is that I’ve made it very clear that there should be no expectation on behalf of the premiers and the chief ministers that our emergency economic support will continue at the scale that it is currently when we reach the 70 to 80 per cent targets.
That’s the plan they have agreed to. The Commonwealth right now is picking up the whole tab for the income support, through $750 payments every week for people who have lost hours of work. That’s already $4 billion out the door since July, and we are also picking up the tab with the states’ 50-50 on business support.
We are doing a lot of heavy lifting in terms of economic support, but it’s with a purpose. A purpose to suppress the virus together with those targets and then to open up as we have committed to the Australian people.
More than 750 exposure sites in Victoria
By Mathew Dunckley
More than 20 exposure sites were added to Victoria’s official list late last night, taking the overall tally to more than 750.
The sites are focused around Melbourne’s north and west but also feature a takeaway food outlet in the south east and CBD supermarket.
The latest tier-1 locations include Woolworths Millers Junction, in Altona North, for:
- Wednesday, August 18 from 2pm to 11.30pm;
- Thursday, August 19 from 11.30am to 11.59pm; and
- Friday, August 20 from midnight to 3.50pm.
In Victoria, tier 1 means anyone who attended at the times listed must immediately get a coronavirus test and isolate for 14 days from the date of exposure (regardless of the result).
Numerous tier-2 sites were also added late last night, including buses running from North Melbourne to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a KFC, 7-Eleven and Aldi.
Biden rebuffs allies, will withdraw troops from Kabul end of August
By Matthew Knott
US President Joe Biden plans to stick to his self-imposed August 31 departure deadline from Afghanistan, rejecting demands from some of America’s closest allies to delay the withdrawal of US troops.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who called an emergency meeting of the G7 nations to discuss the issue, led the push for Biden to extend the military mission to ensure as many people as possible can be evacuated from the Taliban-controlled country.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the push to try to convince US President Joe Biden to delay the withdrawal date from Afghanistan. Credit:Getty
Biden has also faced calls from veterans groups and congressional Democrats to push back the withdrawal date. But the Taliban has threatened to retaliate in some form if the US stays in Afghanistan past the end of the month.
Major western Sydney hospital forced into ‘emergency’ operations
By Mary Ward
A major hospital at the epicentre of Sydney’s outbreak has been forced into “emergency operations”, reducing the number of COVID-19 cases arriving by ambulance for 24 hours and transferring several critical patients to other hospitals.
On Tuesday, Westmead Hospital announced to staff it was doing so to “support an internal disaster management response” as it deals with an increasing number of coronavirus infections.
“We acknowledge that we are no longer operating in a business-as-usual environment and careful assessment and response is required to manage future demand for our services,” the hospital’s acting general manager, Jenelle Matic, said in an email seen by this masthead.
Western Sydney Local Health District chief executive Graeme Loy said the measures were implemented following “unprecedented high demand” for the hospital’s services during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We are continuing to receive ambulances and emergency care continues to be available to everyone who needs it,” he said.
It came after ambulances queued for hours outside the hospital’s emergency department on Monday night. At times, paramedics said there were nine ambulances in the queue, including one which waited over six hours.
Greens NSW health spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said it was concerning western Sydney’s largest hospital was unable to cope with its caseload.
“We might not be anywhere near the peak of this outbreak, yet already the caseload is too much for Westmead to bear on its own,” said Ms Faehrmann, who has written to Health Minister Brad Hazzard calling for better resourcing of hospitals and ICUs.
Voters back national vaccination targets to ease restrictions
By David Crowe
Most Australians want political leaders to stick to a national cabinet deal to ease restrictions when the vaccination rate hits key targets, with 62 per cent backing the plan and only 24 per cent saying states and territories should go their own way.
Voters are increasing their support for vaccinations at the same time many of them decide the country will not return to zero coronavirus cases, with 54 per cent saying it is not possible to achieve “complete suppression” again.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants state and territory leaders to stick to the plan to lift lockdowns once vaccination targets are reached.Credit:Fairfax Media
The exclusive findings lend weight to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call to the country to “get out of the cave” after weeks of dispute over whether to relax rules when the vaccine rate reaches 70 per cent and then 80 per cent of people aged 16 and over.
Read more about the latest Resolve Political Monitor here.
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2021-08-24 22:50:02Z
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