Moderna pharmacy appointments available via online booking platforms
As community pharmacies begin administering Moderna vaccines across the country, listed below are two available booking platforms that may assist with locating your nearest community pharmacy, and their availability for a vaccine appointment.
MVEC are not affiliated with the sites and the information should be used as a guide only.
You can view the booking platforms via the links below.
Find a Pharmacy
Covid19Nearme
Healthed lecture series featuring Associate Professor Nigel Crawford
MVEC’s Associate Professor Nigel Crawford delivered the COVID-19 Update as part of the recent Healthed Australia online lecture series.
In this lecture, A/Prof Nigel Crawford discussed the following:
- An update on the latest ATAGI announcements
- Moderna safety data
- The booster debate
- Back to school
To listen to the lecture in full, click on the link below:
Healthed lecture series 28 September: COVID-19 Update
ATAGI statement about the need for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has released a statement about the need for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The statement strongly recommends maximising first and second dose vaccine uptake across the community without delay in line with current prioritisation and outbreak response strategies and that two doses of any of the vaccines available in Australia have been shown to protect an individual from COVID-19 and its complications, as well as protecting the community.
ATAGI continues to closely monitor local and international data about the frequency and severity of COVID-19 in fully vaccinated individuals as well as reviewing the international data on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of additional doses for specific high-risk patient populations, including immunocompromised individuals, and the population more generally. These data will inform future strategies regarding additional vaccine doses.
Additional doses can be defined as:
- Third doses: Additional COVID-19 doses required as part of the primary course to reach a comparable (optimal) level of protection
- Booster dose: Additional COVID-19 doses required at a broader population level, to optimise protection due to waning of immunity (loss of protection) over time, with booster doses also leading to improved immune memory.
To read the statement in full, please click the link below:
ATAGI statement about the need for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines
Webinar recording now available: The Alfred community information session on COVID-19 vaccines
A webinar recording is now available from The Alfred’s community information session on COVID-19 vaccines which was held on Tuesday 21 September.
In this session, Allen Cheng and Associate Professor Nigel Crawford discuss in detail the COVID-19 vaccines, including the safety and efficacy in children over 12 years old, as well as answer questions from the community.
The full recording is available on The Alfred channels or the MVEC Facebook page via the links below:
The Alfred community discussion 21 September
MVEC Facebook page
ABC News: Pfizer to apply for approval for COVID-19 vaccine to be used for five to 11 year-old children
Initial results from the highly anticipated trial involving more than 2,000 children studying the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 have shown the vaccine is safe and establishes a strong antibody response against the virus.
Despite the initial promising results, it will be some time before an official rollout of vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 both in the US and here in Australia. Once the analysis of the trial is completed, in order to be granted approval, the company is required to provide the FDA with a formal immune “bridging” study which provides data-based evidence that children developed the same antibody levels already proven to be protective in older children and teenagers. The results will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review and emergency use authorisation.
To read the article in full, please click on the link below:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-21/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-5-to-11-year-old/100478362
ABC News: Israel is struggling with COVID-19, despite high vaccination rates. What lessons can Australia learn?
Due to an early and rapid vaccine roll-out, Israel was leading the way for COVID-19 immunisation, with nearly 80 per cent of its citizens aged 12 and over fully inoculated by June. However, cases numbers and rates of hospitalisations began to rapidly rise again by late June with Israel recording its highest single-day spike with 16,011 new infections on September 1.
As Australia works its way towards reopening, this article discusses the important lessons we can learn from Israel's vaccination program. Professor Lewin, Director of The Doherty Institute commented "What we've learned from [Israel], and what's consistent with the modelling is that even at 80 per cent, you need to have some public health measures in place to contain the transmission,"
To read the article in full, please click on the link below:
ABC News: Israel is struggling with COVID-19, despite high vaccination rates. What lessons can Australia learn?
Commonwealth-funded places available for Nurse Immuniser course
There are limited places available for Registered Nurses (RNs) with one year of clinical experience to complete the Commonwealth-funded Nurse Immuniser short course free of charge (conditions apply).
The immunisation (Nurse immuniser) short course is based on the National Immunisation Education Framework for Health Professionals (2017) and has been accredited by the National body for health education Health Education Services Australia (HESA).
To find out more information on this course, please click on the links below. Please note some allocations have been exhausted.
The University of Melbourne: The immunisation (Nurse immuniser) short course
Benchmarque Group Immunisation Endorsement Pathway
ABC News: Another 1 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccines doses coming to Australia after EU deal
1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine which have been secured from European nations are to be sent directly to community pharmacies across the country this week. The announcement is in line with advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
On announcing the latest deal, the government has confirmed that there was now enough vaccine for everyone still waiting for a jab to be offered one in October. In addition to this, from the week of September 20, approximately 1,800 community pharmacies across the country will receive Moderna doses, with an additional 1,800 to receive Moderna doses after that.
To read the article in full, click on the link below.
ABC News: Another 1 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccines doses coming to Australia after EU deal
The Age: ‘Jabba the Bus’ to take regional vaccination drive onto the road
Jabba the bus brings about exciting news for COVID-19 vaccination in regional Victoria. The mobile vaccine hub will deliver essential AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines to isolated residents of regional Victoria. The focus will be on the City of Greater Shepparton as well as Moira, Benalla, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Mansfield Murrindindi and Campaspe.
A high sense of urgency perpetuated the need for the mobile vaccination hub following a large COVID-19 outbreak in Shepparton which forced more than 20 000 people into isolation, including more than 500 staff from Goulburn Valley Health. Goulburn Valley Health Chief executive Matt Sharp indicated that currently, only 45 per cent of people had received even their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while an increasingly more alarming rate of just 26 per cent received their second dose.
The mobile vaccination station, which is the first service of its’ kind in the state represents a promising opportunity to increase vaccine uptake amongst groups of people who otherwise may not have access to the vaccine and includes easy accessibility for people with disabilities.
Full article:
The Age: The Age: ‘Jabba the Bus’ to take regional vaccination drive onto the road
The Age: ‘The moment you walk in through those doors your healing starts’: Victoria leading the race on Indigenous vaccination
Data released by the federal government has highlighted the widening gap between fully vaccinated Indigenous Australians and the overall population, and the direct impact COVID-19 will have on First Nations people if Australia eases restrictions once 70 or 80 per cent of adults are vaccinated.
Historically, Australia’s Aboriginal community has been heavily impacted by the effects of widespread viral infections such as measles, smallpox and the Spanish Flu and this article highlights the impact low COVID-19 vaccination rates could have on our First Nations people.
Despite the slow rollout, Victoria is leading the way in terms of vaccination rates amongst the Indigenous population with 43% of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, more than double that of the non-Indigenous population in Victoria at 26%.
According to Jeroen Weimar, the COVID-19 response commander in Victoria, the states’ success with facilitating a competent roll out initiative amongst the Indigenous communities can be attributed to joint efforts and strong partnerships.
To read the article in full, please click on the link below.
The Age: ‘The moment you walk in through those doors your healing starts’: Victoria leading the race on Indigenous vaccination