Highlights
- AstraZeneca vaccine rollout to start by March 8
- Australia will have 3.8 million international doses of the vaccine and 50 million domestically-produced doses
- Federal government has also announced a second $31 million public health information campaign
300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have arrived in Sydney from overseas in Australia's latest efforts to combat COVID-19.
The rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will begin on March 8 once the doses are batch tested by the Therapeutic Goods Administration
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says 200,000 doses will be released to states by then.
"So it is an important step, always subject to the quality testing, always subject to the TGA, but at this stage, all of the safety protocols are strong and that first shipment of AstraZeneca has now arrived in Australia. And what that means is that they will be able to rapidly upscale the rollout. Another point of hope, another point of protection"
Australia will receive 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in weeks to come.
The next stage involves 50 million doses being manufactured by pharmaceutical company C-S-L.
Epidemiologist Hassan Vally says that since the AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures, there will be less issues.
A second $31 million public health information campaign has been announced by the government to encourage Australians to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Mr Hunt says the new campaign will myth-bust some misinformation that surrounds Australia's vaccination rollout.
The government also released a vaccine tracker, that allows people to check their eligibility to get vaccinated and when they can do so.
So far 30,000 Australians have been vaccinated since last Monday,15 Feb, including over 8000 aged care and disability residents.
But New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is calling for greater information about the vaccination campaign.
As healthcare and border workers are inoculated in the state, Ms Berejiklian says state leaders are unsure as to how and when the general population will be vaccinated.
"I'm not going to hide the fact that information is key for the states to be able to do our work as best we can. Our New South Wales health officials were able to turn around the Pfizer vaccine supply we've got very quickly - within days - because we've been planning for it. The more notice we have the better, and as I said, we're really keen to get the vaccine out to our community, to our citizens as soon as possible" says NSW Premier
Meanwhile New South Wales has recorded more than a month of no locally-acquired COVID-19 cases.
