SYDNEY AUS (CU) _ Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been making headlines with his quick and calm actions for the people of his country regarding the COVID virus and its vaccines.
He stated that the Australian government has targeted the vaccine to have been given to 4 million Australians by mid to late February.
The health care system along with government officials and authorities have a five step plan as to how the vaccine will be distributed. The first group of people to receive the vaccine will be health care and hotel quarantine workers and then it will pass on the other groups the final group being children as they are in the low risk zone of contracting the virus.
The five steps are as follows
- Phase 1a – up to 1.4m doses: Quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, aged care and disability care staff and residents;
- Phase 1b – up to 14.8m doses: Elderly adults aged over 70, other healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 55, younger adults with underlying medical conditions, including a disability, high-risk workers including police, fire, Defence, emergency services and meat processing;
- Phase 2a- up to 15.8m doses: Adults aged over 50, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 18, other critical and high-risk workers;
- Phase 2b- up to 16m doses: Balance of adult population, catch up any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases;
- Phase 3 – up to 16m doses: Children aged under 18, if recommended.
The Pfizer vaccine is in the process of getting all necessary approvals and the process is deadlined to be completed by the end of January.
Morrison says he gives monthly deadlines as giving dates is near impossible in these uncertain times. He also said that this vaccine approvals have also been given top priority.
Morrison is seen to be taking all the precautions when it comes to the vaccine. The time shows that once the needed approvals have been completed it will take a further 2 weeks to get the vaccine into the country and an added week for all the testing to be completed before it can be given to the people.
In a statement made by Professor Brenden Murphy the Secretary of the Federal Health Department the vaccine is a two phase process and once you get the first shot the second shot needs to be taken in a few weeks
Morrison goes on to praising Australia as to how it has coped and handled the pandemic, this being said there will as be more that 1000 vaccination hubs all across Australia including sites for aboriginal out reach.
The authorities are also making a facility for the people who received the vaccine to be digitally tagged to a data base so that they can be tracked and kept informed for their second round of vaccines.
Morrison concludes by that the vaccine does not mean that the people can be irresponsible and forget what the new normal is and while they won’t be at risk of contracting the disease with this vaccine they would still need to be careful.
