The Conversation: Who can’t have a COVID vaccine and how do I get a medical exemption?
State and territory governments and businesses are currently in the process of establishing COVID-19 vaccine mandates across a range of sectors, including the Victorian government which mandated COVID vaccination for all authorised workers last week. Despite this necessary step, there is still a very small amount of people who are unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons. ATAGI has released guidelines on which instances an individual may be granted a medical exception.
The only criteria for a permanent exception are due to anaphylaxis following a previous COVID-19 vaccine dose or to any component of a vaccine.
Temporary exceptions may be approved for some “acute major medical illnesses” where the COVID vaccine can be deferred for a certain amount of time.
COVID vaccine exceptions can be administered by general practitioners, paediatricians, clinical immunologists, infectious disease, general or public health physicians, gynaecologists, or obstetricians. As vaccine mandates continue to be implemented, it’s crucial for employers, individuals, and medical providers to stay up to date with new ATAGI clinical guidance regarding the medical exemption criteria.
Click the link to read the full article:
The Conversation: Who can’t have a COVID vaccine and how do I get a medical exemption?
The Age: Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines now available to all Australians over 60
Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced that from Friday, 1 October Australians aged 60 and over will be able to get Pfizer and Moderna regardless of where they live, expanding vaccine choice for more than 300,000 older people who have been waiting to get vaccinated.
In addition to this, it has also been announced that Victoria will receive an extra 88,900 Moderna doses to assist in state clinics to focus on under 60s, while GP and pharmacies will focus vaccinating those 60 and over.
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The Age: Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines now available to all Australians over 60
Victorian Government COVID-19 Vaccination Enhancement Grants
The Victorian Government is offering COVID-19 Vaccination Enhancement Grants to pharmacies and general practices interested in maximising their capacity to deliver vaccines across identified geographic areas at higher risk of COVID-19.
The grants are designed to support primary care providers to utilise their full vaccine allocations and to confidently promote access in their local communities as well as fund additional workforce or operational costs associated with maximising COVID-19 vaccine administration.
To find out more information about the grants available, please click on the link below.
Victorian Government COVID-19 Vaccination Enhancement Grants
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 新闻：辉瑞申请批准用于 5 至 11 岁儿童的 COVID-19 疫苗
这项备受期待的试验涉及 2,000 多名儿童，研究了辉瑞和 BioNTech COVID-19 疫苗对 5 至 11 岁儿童的有效性和安全性，初步结果表明该疫苗是安全的，并建立了针对该病毒的强大抗体反应。
尽管初步结果令人鼓舞，但在美国和澳大利亚正式推出针对 5 至 11 岁儿童的疫苗还需要一段时间。一旦试验分析完成，为了获得批准，公司需要向 FDA 提供正式的免疫“桥接”研究，该研究提供基于数据的证据，证明儿童产生的相同抗体水平已被证明具有保护作用在年龄较大的儿童和青少年中。结果将提交给美国食品和药物管理局 (FDA) 进行审查和紧急使用授权。
要阅读全文，请点击以下链接：
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,"
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ABC News: Israel is struggling with COVID-19, despite high vaccination rates. What lessons can Australia learn?
可用于护士免疫课程的英联邦资助名额
具有一年临床经验的注册护士 (RN) 名额有限，可以免费完成联邦资助的护士免疫程序短期课程（有条件）。
免疫接种（Nurse immuniser）短期课程是基于 国家卫生专业人员免疫教育框架 (2017) 并已获得国家健康教育机构的认可 澳大利亚健康教育服务 (HESA).
要了解有关本课程的更多信息，请单击下面的链接。请注意一些分配已经用完。
墨尔本大学：免疫接种（Nurse immuniser）短期课程
基准组免疫认可途径