In some hopeful news for Australians, PM Scott Morrison has said that the first coronavirus vaccinations will now be expected next month.
As per 9news, Morrison held a press conference today, January 7th, to announce the news about vaccinations being brought forward to February.
He revealed that the aim is to have four million Australians vaccinated by the end of March, with a target to roll out 80,000 vaccinations a week by mid to late February.
As expected, the vaccinations will be rolled out in phases, depending on a person’s risk level. Those most at-risk will be given it in the first round, including healthcare workers, aged care and disability workers and their residents. Children under the age of 18 will be the last to be vaccinated, due to their lower risk of serious disease.
Health authorities have outlined a five-tier priority list for those to receive vaccination:
- Phase 1a – up to 1.4m doses: Quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, aged care and disability care staff and residents;
- Phase 1b – up to 14.8m doses: Elderly adults aged over 70, other healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 55, younger adults with underlying medical conditions, including a disability, high-risk workers including police, fire, defence, emergency services and meat processing;
- Phase 2a- up to 15.8m doses: Adults aged over 50, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 18, other critical and high-risk workers;
- Phase 2b- up to 16m doses: Balance of adult population, catch up any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases;
- Phase 3 – up to 16m doses: Children aged under 18, if recommended.
Despite the updated schedule, Morrison was as yet unable to provide an exact date for the vaccination rollout. “It is moving considerably faster than normal vaccination processes would occur in Australia – but without cutting corners, ensuring that everything is ticked that needs to be ticked along the way,” he said. “We believe we will be able to commence vaccinations of high-priority workers in mid- to late-February.
The rollout is still pending approval by the TGA and delivery by suppliers. The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be the first to win TGA approval, which should come by the end of this month. Even after approval, it will still take approximately two weeks for vials of the vaccine to arrive in the country and a further week for test batching to be finished.
Morrison was quick to warn that the coronavirus vaccine rollout didn’t mean the end of Australia’s battle with coronavirus. “Vaccinations are not a silver bullet,” he said. “COVID-safe practices must continue. This will add a further, significant defence – or rather, an offence. But 2021 will still be a year of battling the virus.”
Check out PM Scott Morrison’s full press conference:
