Australia news LIVE Victoria records 14 new local COVID-19 cases as NSW infections soar TGA approves Pfizer vaccine for children
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Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has just confirmed that the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds overnight.
Mr Hunt told Seven’s Sunrise that the next step is for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to give its approval.
Health Minister Greg Hunt.Credit:Scott McNaughton
“If ATAGI gives the second green light... immunocompromised and kids with underlying medical conditions [will be] immediately added to the phase 1B [of the rollout and] able to access Pfizer,†the Health Minister said.
“The US is doing this for 12 to 15-year-olds and they are providing the world with very, very important safety data.â€
Mr Hunt confirmed that September, early-October is the expected timeline for under-40s to receive their first Pfizer jab.
“That is the expectation at the moment. If there were to be a variation, we can bring it forward.â€
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state recorded 14 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All are linked to current outbreaks.
Two-thirds of the new cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period, according to the Victorian Department of Health.
Earlier this morning, we told you that former treasurer and current Labor Party president Wayne Swan was more than a little sceptical about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s apology over the sluggish vaccine rollout.
Minister for Defence Peter Dutton was on the Today show earlier. Here’s what he had to say about the PM’s performance not just this week but since the beginning of the pandemic:
Defence Minister Peter Dutton.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“Not only is he OK, he is doing a great job in the best interests of the country.
“The reality is the Prime Minister made decisions right from the start to close our borders, put extra support into the health system, to put troops on the ground where needed.
“Not everything is going to go right along this path. Nobody has a text book as to every scenario and what the response should be. And I think the government has been able to adapt.
“Where we have made mistakes, we have apologised, and we move on from it. We learn from those mistakes, and we deal with the next issue, and that’s exactly what he issue, and that’s exactly what he is doing at the moment.â€
The nation’s peak medical body is seeking changes to the way the scientific panel advising the government on vaccine safety makes and communicates crucial decisions amid a political storm over whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to pressure the group.
The Australian Medical Association wants greater transparency around the independent technical group’s recommendations on who should take COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer and others, reflecting concerns it needs to hear more views from general practitioners working in the community.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants a review of the scientific advice on AstraZeneca given the changing balance of risks.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Read the full story here.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the Pfizer jab for children between 12 and 15 years old, according to Minister for Health Greg Hunt.
Australia’s peak body for vaccines will need to give a green light of its own before those jabs can start going into arms (starting with immunocompromised children).
Professor Mary-Louise McLaws says adults should be prioritised in the vaccine rollout. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
However, experts say the country should be focusing on adults who aren’t yet eligible for the Pfizer shot.
Sydney University infectious disease expert Robert Booy told the Today show children are, generally speaking, “incredibly resilient†when it comes to COVID-19.
“We need to get adults, frontline workers, elderly people, all the rest who are at risk vaccinated first before we even consider vaccinating children,†he said.
UNSW Professor Mary-Louise McLaws agrees.
“The specific adults that really need .... Pfizer [quickly] are the 20 to 39-year-olds,†she said.
“We need to protect them, and then we can cut the cycle of continued, you know, infection and then transmission, and then look at the 12-year-olds. So, we need an increase of injections per day of about 31 per cent, so that at the end of all of this, covering that adult group, we can then start doing the 12-year-olds.â€
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has just confirmed that the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds overnight.
Mr Hunt told Seven’s Sunrise that the next step is for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to give its approval.
Health Minister Greg Hunt.Credit:Scott McNaughton
“If ATAGI gives the second green light... immunocompromised and kids with underlying medical conditions [will be] immediately added to the phase 1B [of the rollout and] able to access Pfizer,†the Health Minister said.
“The US is doing this for 12 to 15-year-olds and they are providing the world with very, very important safety data.â€
Mr Hunt confirmed that September, early-October is the expected timeline for under-40s to receive their first Pfizer jab.
“That is the expectation at the moment. If there were to be a variation, we can bring it forward.â€
Sydney’s Delta variant outbreak initially was centred in the city’s eastern suburbs after first being spread in Bondi.
But south-west Sydney has since established itself as the epicentre of the outbreak, with the Fairfield local government area recording 648 cases as of July 21, far more than any other locality.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday said fears the virus was “spilling over†into neighbouring LGAs had been realised, with more and more cases recorded in the Cumberland and Canterbury-Bankstown areas. Blacktown, Liverpool and Georges River also recorded an increased number of cases.
This map shows how the outbreak â€" which began on June 16 â€" grew quickly in the south west after the virus spread from the eastern suburbs.
Wayne Swan may no longer be in Parliament, but that hasn’t stopped the former federal treasurer from firing a broadside at the Morrison government on breakfast television earlier this morning.
Mr Swan was appearing on Nine’s Today show to talk about the Prime Minister’s apology over the vaccine rollout. Here’s what he had to say:
“Essentially, the performance yesterday was just dreadful. People said that he issued an apology. He
didn’t. It was a half apology that was forced. It wasn’t sincere, and it didn’t go to the core of the problem.
“If he was going to go out and say, ‘Let’s wipe the slate clean, let’s look at what’s gone wrong here,’ which is the decisions they [the Government] have taken not to purchase the correct volumes and types of vaccines, then people might take him seriously.
“But every day he goes out, he’s getting a gold medal for blame shifting.â€
There are concerns coronavirus could be circulating unchecked in northern NSW.
Last night, state health authorities revealed COVID-19 fragments had been detected in sewage from the Byron Bay area.
The sewage plant where the fragments were detected services around 19,000 people in Byron Bay and the surrounding Wategos, Suffolk Park, Sunrise and Broken Head regions.
“There are no known cases in this area, which is of great concern,†NSW Health said in a statement.
Health authorities are urging anyone living in the area to be “especially vigilant†for COVID-19 symptoms and, if they arise, immediately come forward for testing and isolate until a negative result is received.
“If symptoms appear again, please be tested and isolated again.â€
While Queensland’s border with all of NSW is now in effect, it’s worth noting that Byron Bay is part of the border bubble (meaning residents can travel to Queensland for work, healthcare, etc.).
The second one-day international cricket match between Australia and the West Indies has been suspended in Barbados due to a positive COVID-19 case.
Confirmation came shortly after the toss, with both teams immediately making their way back to their respective change rooms.
Australia’s match against the West Indies has been suspended due to a positive COVID-19 test.Credit:AP
“The positive case is not believed to be an Australian,†Cricket Australia said in a statement, adding that the third ODI on Saturday is now in “considerable doubtâ€.
Read the full story here.
with Reuters
Victorian health authorities listed two new exposure sites after 8pm last night.
Both are tier-2 sites in Melbourne’s south-east. Anyone anyone who visisted the following places at the relevant times must immediately get a coronavirus test and isolate until receiving a negative result:
For a full list of exposure sites, visit the Victorian Department of Health website.
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