The approval of locally-produced batches of the AstraZeneca vaccine by Australia’s drugs regulator is “a major advantage” that will probably address drastic shortages, an infectious diseases expert says.
On Sunday, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said the AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured in Australia by CSL had been approved, describing it in a statement as a “critical and very exciting” milestone.
Another 6 million higher-risk Australians became eligible for the vaccine on Monday as the next stage of the rollout, phase 1b, began.
Prof Lyn Gilbert, an infectious diseases physician, who is also a member of the federal Infection Control Expert Group, said this would “eventually address shortages due to the EU withholding some shipments”.
GPs have told Guardian Australia that the government has undersupplied them with Covid-19 vaccine doses and had failed to properly forewarn the sector of rollout details.
Gilbert said as well as addressing local shortages, she hoped the CSL-produced vaccine would quickly go to Papua New Guinea.
“Hopefully it will also mean we can provide more doses to PNG – who clearly need it more than we do at the moment,” she said. “Providing vaccine is not only altruistic but also in Australia’s interest, given the porous border in the Torres Strait.”
She said doctors and patients should keep in mind the complexity of the rollout.
“It’s a complicated business, given the size of the country, logistics of vaccine storage and transport and multiple agencies involved – the commonwealth, states and territories, residential aged care facilities, Primary Health Networks etcetera,” she said.
“Nevertheless, a lot of frontline healthcare, quarantine and aged care workers and aged care residents and politicians have already received their first, and some [have had] their second doses.
“GPs may be justified in feeling frustrated because they can’t fulfil their patients’ expectations. It was probably premature of the government to publicise the list of GPs who would be offering Covid-19 vaccinations before the GPs themselves were informed when they would get supplies.”
She said it was important for the government to communicate to the public that there was no need to rush to get the vaccine, or worry about missing out.
The health department secretary, Prof Brendan Murphy, on Monday urged Australians to be patient as phase 1b of the rollout began, which means an expanded group of people, including people over the age of 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 55, and some people with chronic conditions now qualify.
“I know there is a lot of enthusiasm, which is great, in Australia, to get vaccinated, but be patient and wait, look at the eligibility checker and wait for appointments to come up,” Murphy said.
He said the first batches of the locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine would be delivered in coming days, adding some relief to shortages.
“I have said on many occasions how lucky we are to have onshore production of a vaccine,” Murphy said.
“Every country in the world that is dependent on international supplies is facing supply chain challenges. This workhorse vaccine is being produced in Australia … That will provide us with a reliable, steady and progressively increasing source of vaccine so that we can expand our rollout.”
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said he met with peak medical groups including the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners on Friday over concerns that the booking system was seriously flawed, and that some clinics were being given so few doses of the vaccine that it was not worth administering it.
“All practices are being given 12 weeks’ confidence with their minimum vaccine supply so they have that certainty,” Hunt said. “We are on track to be able to meet all of our commitments to all of the states and territories and general practices over the course of the week.”
To date, Australia has lagged significantly behind its vaccination schedule. The gap between current doses and where the rate needs to be to hit the federal government’s March goal is 2.7m.
The Consumers Health Forum said on Monday that the Australian manufactured vaccine “will substantially boost vaccination capacity”.
“The early stages in Australia’s vaccination rollout have made it more important than ever that the government engages with the community, not only with up-to-date information on the vaccination program but also by listening and responding to communities about their experiences,” the CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells, said.
A professor of infectious diseases with the Australian National University, Peter Collignon, said he was confident that with local supply, the federal government’s overall vaccine target of having all eligible Australians fully vaccinated by October would be met.
“I’m not actually quite sure how many of those criticisms against the rollout are really justified, when a key issue at the moment is shortage of supply from and interference by the EU,” Collignon said.
“By the same token, we do not have spread of virus in Australia so we’ve got the luxury of time.”
