Provided by Deb Lee, CEO of theAdelaide Primary Health Network (Adelaide PHN) who are responsible for the coordination and support of vaccinations across phase 1a and 1b, focusing on Residential Aged Care Facilities and General Practice.
The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccinations is a truly “all of health system” response. The Commonwealth is directing the roll out across all states and territories. This presentation by Brendan Murphy, Chief Medical Officer of Australia gives a great overview of all the details. I’ll focus on South Australia specifically.
We currently have two vaccines approved for use within Australia: the Pfizer vaccine and the Astra Zeneca vaccine. Neither vaccine contains “live” components of the COVID-19 virus. The Pfizer vaccine has a complex cold chain storage requirement and has been specifically reserved for the residents of Aged Care Facilities and frontline medical workers. Adelaide PHN and SA Health are working in close collaboration, with different population and/or area focus to ensure that our most vulnerable community members are vaccinated first.
Adelaide PHN continues to work closely with the Commonwealth workforce providers (the vaccinators) to roll the vaccinations out through all Residential Aged Care Facilities (part of Phase 1a).
Phase 1b commenced on Monday 22 March and the metropolitan region will have 196 General Practices available as Vaccination Clinics (70 in week one, 29 in week two, 53 in week 3 and 44 in week four). Eventually all general practices will be able to provide vaccinations and this will continue to be expanded as supply expands. You can find the Eligibility Checker and the list of Vaccination Clinics via theDepartment of Health website. Remember to check back regularly, as each week more vaccinations clinics will become available. You do NOT have to be a regular patient of these clinics; you just need to be eligible for vaccination in phase 1b.
Are we vaccinating as quickly as we could/should?
Yes, we absolutely are! Australia is not vaccinating under emergency conditions (as with other countries where outbreaks are still occurring and there are significant numbers of deaths). We can vaccinate in a planned way, ensuring that our most vulnerable community members are prioritised. We can only go as fast as our actual supply of vaccinations in this country allow us to do so. Once domestic supply is available (expected late March, early April) the speed and coverage of vaccination will expand accordingly.
Is the Astra Zeneca vaccination safe?
Yes, absolutely. Other countries have had to “pause” their vaccinations to investigate if there could be ANY link to the vaccination with clotting. There is no evidence to suggest this at all. Our slower roll out allows us to ensure that we can pick up any reaction and be certain it is not linked to the vaccination. Most reactions are either mild (tender arm etc) or not “caused” by vaccination but are actually “medical coincidences”.
A reminder, flu vaccinations have begun arriving in pharmacies and will be in our general practices soon. Check where you are in the COVID vaccination roll out. If you are phase 2a onwards, organise your flu vaccination as soon as you can. You MUST allow two weeks between your flu and COVID vaccination. To be clear, this is not because there is any potential adverse impact on you if you had both vaccinations together – it is to ensure that if you do have any kind of adverse reaction, we know exactly which vaccination that is linked to. Your vaccination provider should ensure they ask you if you have had any vaccination in the two weeks prior.
Check our website for regularly updated information and/or contact us if you have any
questions.
