Roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine

aussiejohn

The sad fact of life is that we just have no expertise in logistics. No matter what disaster we face, be it bushfires, floods, or other problems, nothing happens quickly. People are still suffering from the effects of the bushfires in January 2020. We live in a country with vast distances to cover, and we suffer regularly from natural disasters. In 200 years we have learnt nothing, and made no effort to address the problems of getting help to people. So when we come to a major worldwide pandemic, we are floundering. Not only that we have a government who sees no urgency in doing anything to help people. It is true that we have been lucky, but we are sitting on a powder keg, and Covid could easily spread through Australia in a more deadly wave due to complacency at all levels of society. The time to dump this "she'll be right mate" attitude is long past. We need to pull our collective fingers out and get moving on setting up proper infrastructure to deal with these issues now and into the future.

Jools78

I think there is a seasonal component, with countries getting towards autumn/winter wanting to move more quickly

Libbazz

We are producing our own vaccines here, so the speed should pick up now. Overseas companies producing the vaccine wanted to keep their stock for the Northern Hemisphere countries, which is understandable, as another COVID-19 wave is hitting some of those countries and are going back into lockdown. Australia and New Zealand are the lucky countries with very few cases of COVID-19.

bube

We are lucky that we have so few cases compared to the rest of the world. I like to get it but my doctor is till now not part of the offices that have it, and if you call the tell you if you not a patient of theirs the will not give it to you what i say is a joke

El

Probably feel we are in the lucky country and it is not quite so urgent as many other countries. On a purely personal basis do hope that the roll out gets under control so "safe" overseas travel can commence again. The clock is ticking, not getting any younger and for the sake of the tourism industry would be good to get things rolling again.

jtmorri

The TGA took the appropriate amount of time to evaluate the vaccine for efficacy and safety. They did not rush the process. CSL has upgraded their facility to make the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and has been making the vaccine for release, but TGA is doing the releases of the vaccine and not CSL. The European Union isn't allowing the Pfizer vaccine to be shipped to Australia and when Australia's orders are filled from Pfizer they will be distributed to neighbouring countries like Papua New Guinea, who are seeing rising infections which could enter Australia via Queensland. I am unsure if our supply program extends to East Timor, but possibly. The vastness of our nation also poses logistical challenges, which of course will be surmounted. I think Australia is doing well with the roll-out of COVID-19 which will ramp up with more output and releases from CSL by TGA.

I also agree with other people here that Australia is currently in a good position and controlling COVID-19 entering Australia as well as our robust borders and lock down policies and containment which have worked. Other nations are in need of the vaccines more than us.

jtmorri

You have put together a cogent reply.

Thanks @Goulah :)

Goulah

The TGA took the appropriate amount of time to evaluate the vaccine for efficacy and safety. They did not rush the process. CSL has upgraded their facility to make the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine...

You have put together a cogent reply.

Sweetness

I am an elderly lady still not sure if I can trust it , They say it's safe but they don't really know t think I will wait awhile and see if people get sick from it Judith

s

We don't need it as much as most other countries do.
Cost is a big factor as the astrazenica vaccine is a lot cheaper than the other vaccine.
Now we have permission to make it here and so far 800,000 have been made here going to make 50 million in the end.
I am expecting my first and second dose as a Christmas present from the government.
If you are under 18 good luck they haven't even mentioned when they are getting their's.

gwatt

I think what has been said by others is completly adequate and I do not need to repeat the obivous

Anthony31584593

we don’t need it to be fast. look at overseas rates and be pragmatic

Hayden32087770

Being cautious

Dei

I hope it's a case os slow and steady wins the race, compared to other countries around the world this appears to have been Australia's modus operandi. If the TGA have approved its use, then we're going at the pace we need/set, I imagine, the pace allows the TGA and health officials to monitor people's reactions and to allow the rest of the populace to be more accepting given the recent problems with the Astrazeneca vaccine. I think supporting PNG with PPE and virus doses is a smart move as they are our nearest neighbours and there are a lot of fly-in/flyout workers in both countries.

flammingnutters

I would prefer our vaccinations go to our neighbouring PNG atm we are not in a rush, they need it. We don't need it spreading from there to here so get it controlled there first.
I am happy Aust hasn't rushed into it we don't really know what the outcome of these injections are yet.

Bear62

AUSTRALIA is not in an emergency situation like other countries, we have been lucky enough to be thorough, well advised and fortunate enough to have the best regulator in the world the Therapeutic Goods Adminsistration TGA. It has started to be rolled out now and those of us who are interested in having the jab will be vaccinated soon enough

Thursdaygirl

Where I live in regional South Australia, we have not had any COVID outbreaks. At the moment I would prefer that more doses should be sent to PNG, as they really need it more than we do. This would also be a protection for Australia. Although I am over 70, I would be prepared to wait a bit longer.

justal

I understand that our government wants to take the utmost care to ensure this vaccine is safe. However, if there was a serious problem, most of the rest of the world would be dropping like flies. Israel has vaccinated 90% of their population I think it would be apparent by now if there was any serious side effects. We also must remember, that with any vaccination some people will have an adverse reaction. I am just worried that we are not protecting ourselves, especially as we keep bringing in people from overseas that test positive to the virus.

Dena31948125

Probably the health authorities are not sure about the safety of the vaccines. It could be due to limited amount available, or the decision of giving the vaccines to Australians was not made by the Australian government. We have seen sudden changes in decisions about the right time for the vaccine to be given to Australians.

violia3

I believe that our government & health officials are unsure as to the long term outcomes and are being cautious

justal

After all the months we have had to prepare whilst other countries began vaccination at a fast pace, we seem to be struggling to even get going. Politicians are crowing about the few thousand vaccines that have been administered, we are a country of 26 million, at this rate it could take years to vaccinate our population.

justal

Justal think on this for one moment this is the biggest human trial of an unknown vaccine in the history of the world

And a testimony to those who have developed it in a very short time. Do we have a choice? it has become apparent how deadly this virus is and how quickly it mutates. Sadly, here in Victoria, we have learned how easily it escapes quarantine and spreads like wildfire in a couple of days.

justal

Justal think on this for one moment this is the biggest human trial of an unknown vaccine in the history of the world

And a testimony to those who have developed it in a very short time. Do we have a choice? it has become apparent how deadly this virus is and how quickly it mutates. Sadly, here in Victoria, we have learned how easily it escapes quarantine and spreads like wildfire in a couple of days.

violia3

After all the months we have had to prepare whilst other countries began vaccination at a fast pace, we seem to be struggling to even get going. Politicians are crowing about the few thousand...

Justal think on this for one moment this is the biggest human trial of an unknown vaccine in the history of the world