As of 8 April 2021, Australia had administered a total of 1,078,000 vaccine doses, with an average of 53,600 doses given per day over the past 7 days, and 375,000 doses in total over the past week, and to reach herd immunity Australia needs at least 40 million doses (covering 20 million people) — at the current rate, that won’t happen until April 2023.
1. Due to a possible blood-clotting side effect in younger people linked to the Oxford (AstraZeneca) vaccine, the Australian Government advised on Thursday evening that people under 50 should not receive it. Australia currently relies mainly on two vaccines, with the Oxford shot — mostly manufactured locally under licence by CSL — the main one it depends on; around 50 million doses are expected to be supplied this financial year, while Australia had previously ordered 20 million Pfizer doses and this week secured a further 20 million on top of that.
2. On Friday, the Australian Government confirmed a new order of 20 million Pfizer doses. Australia had already ordered 20 million Pfizer doses, which have been supplied continuously since February; the new 20 million doses aren’t expected to start arriving until the fourth quarter of this year, though the Prime Minister said the government is working to bring that timeline forward. To date, Pfizer has supplied Australia with 1 million doses, and on Friday Pfizer also confirmed it will complete the full contracted supply within 2021.
3. The other vaccine the Australian Government has ordered is made by US company Novavax, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. Data released previously showed 89.3% efficacy, but efficacy against the South African variant was below 50% (the company is developing a new vaccine targeting the South African variant). The company is expected to seek FDA approval in the US as early as the second quarter of this year, and Australia has ordered a total of 51 million doses of this vaccine for 2021. Given the new developments around the Oxford vaccine, the Australian Government is also in talks with local manufacturer CSL about the possibility of converting some of its production capacity to manufacture the Novavax vaccine instead.
4. NSW Health announced on Friday that it was pausing Oxford vaccine doses for people of all ages while it updated the consent information (expected to align with the European Medicines Agency’s approach, noting blood clotting as a possible side effect), and by Friday afternoon had resumed giving the Oxford vaccine to people over 50, with people under 50 able to choose to receive it voluntarily from the following Monday. NSW Premier Ms Berejiklian turns 50 in September this year and said she would continue with her second Oxford dose — she received her first dose in March 2021. Medical experts advise that anyone who had no adverse reaction to the first dose can go ahead with the second.
5. Queensland says it will continue offering the Oxford vaccine, with a policy similar to NSW’s: people over 50 are encouraged to get it, while those under 50 should weigh up the risk themselves and discuss it with their own GP — they can still choose to get it if they wish.
Sources: ABC, The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, WHO, and respective state health department websites
