Page 1821 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 22 June 2021
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The COVID-19 vaccination program rollout continues to progress well in the ACT. We are ensuring that the rollout continues in an efficient and, above all, safe manner. I am pleased to advise that, as of 11.59 pm on 20 June 2021, the total number of vaccine doses administered through ACT government facilities was 72,565.
The ACT government continues to work with residential aged-care facilities on ways to increase vaccination of workers and identify workers willing to be contacted directly by the vaccine booking team to make an appointment at the Garran mass vaccination clinic. The Chief Health Officer has written directly to each residential aged-care facility manager to encourage greater uptake of vaccinations for their workforce, and our team continues to liaise regularly with these facilities.
The access and sensory COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Garran has been well received by the Canberra community. Since opening on 27 May, the clinic has administered 320 vaccines to eligible individuals. Feedback from disability stakeholder groups has been extremely warm and encouraging.
Eligible Canberrans are able to make a vaccination appointment online through the MyDHR Digital Health Record platform or by calling the ACT government COVID-19 vaccination phone booking line. Acknowledging that not everyone is able to book online, we continue to operate the phone booking line from 7 am to 7 pm, seven days a week.
ACT residents aged 60 years or older also have the option of contacting a participating general practice to book their appointment for the AstraZeneca vaccine. There are more than 70 participating GP and commonwealth-led respiratory assessment clinics administering AstraZeneca to those persons eligible. I encourage people to use the commonwealth government’s online eligibility checker to find a participating provider.
Delivering a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination program is the priority for the ACT government. We are working closely with the commonwealth government to ensure Canberrans are well informed about the vaccination program, and we are implementing policies and procedures based on expert health advice.
On 17 June, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation—ATAGI—released advice updating its recommendation on the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. ATAGI’s revised advice is that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the preferred vaccine for people aged 16 to 59 years, whereas previously Pfizer was recommended for adults up to 49 years of age.
ATAGI’s new advice means that people aged 50 to 59 should receive the Pfizer vaccine instead of AstraZeneca. The recommendation has been revised due to the higher risk observed in Australia of people in the 50 to 59 age group developing severe thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome—TTS—related to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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