OSHCstudents – In a significant push to vaccinate many more Australians against coronavirus, National Cabinet has agreed to a new scheme giving indemnity to GPs who administer the AstraZeneca jab to people aged under 60 who ask for it.
Australian medical advice has recommended AstraZeneca only for people aged over 60, and previously as young as 50. People aged under 60 will now be eligible for the AstraZeneca jab if they request it from their GPs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Monday night the indemnity scheme had been agreed to at an emergency National Cabinet meeting so GPs would feel comfortable administering AstraZeneca to under-60s who requested it.
GPs can “actively engage with you and you can make the best decision for your health,” Mr Morrisons aid.
“If you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, we would encourage you to … go have a discussion with your GP.”
Mr Morrison said 221,000 second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were administered last week, the week after the latest ATAGI advice about the preferred age group for the specific jab.
He said that figure showed “Australians are coming back for their second dose of AstraZeneca” despite safety hiccups.
“AstraZeneca is there for people to get vaccinated. There are many points of presence, over 5000 GPs alone where you can get that done. If people are concerned, as I’m sure they are, as I am, that I’d be encouraging them to go out and get that vaccination.”
With frustrations growing across Australia at new lockdowns and restrictions in the wake of major coronavirus outbreaks, Mr Morrison said it was “completely naive” to expect the country to suddenly emerge from the pandemic.
“It was never going to be a case where Australia was closed one day and open the next,” he said.
The removal of restrictions would “evolve in stages”.
“The major frustration here is the virus, that’s the major thing working against Australia,” he said.
“We have a lockdown because we have a new Delta variant that is proving to be highly contagious than previous variants. The question will be: what will be the next variant?”
OSHCstudents (Source: 9news)
