The President of the European Commission has reaffirmed her threat to block exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in the EU, saying their contracts must be fulfilled before it can be exported to other countries.
Ursula von der Leyen said only a third of the 90 million promised doses had been delivered in the first quarter. Follow live.
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By Daniel Smith
Curious
Hi Curious! How's Aunt Confused?
Puzzled says hi
-Curious' Cousin
What can we say, Dan? We're a curious bunch (in both senses!).
-Curiouser and Curiouser
By Daniel Smith
Urban farming as a reprieve from the pandemic
Have you been doing any gardening during the pandemic? An innovative project in Melbourne's north is pairing aspiring urban farmers with people happy to share their backyards, hoping to foster a win-win relationship that could be replicated across the country.
Catie Payne and George Clipp have been hard at work since restrictions eased, transforming 60 square metres of weeds into a garden of tomatoes, pumpkin and native river mint.
"Anyone who grew a tomato during lockdown — even a little bit of their own food — knows that feeling of how satisfying it is to be working with the processes of nature," said Growing Farmers president Alice Crowe.
You can read more about the project here.
By Daniel Smith
The EU AstraZeneca block
Morning Dan. Is there an article somewhere with more detail about the current title text of the blog: "EU threatens to keep blocking exports of AstraZeneca vaccine until contracts fulfilled"? I can't find one on here.
-Curious Country
Wow, there are a lot of Curious's out there. Are you all related?
There's no stand-alone article that we've published, no. It has been on ABC radio, and we used that copy for a blog post.
Basically, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said AstraZeneca could face a ban on exports of coronavirus vaccine doses it produces in the EU if it did not meet its delivery obligations.
She told Germany's Funke Media Group in an interview published on Saturday that the EU had the "possibility" to ban exports. “This is a message to AstraZeneca: You fulfill your part of the deal toward Europe before you start to deliver to other countries,” she said.
By Daniel Smith
Vaccines to PNG
Does the EU block on vaccines mean that Australia now won’t be giving any to PNG?
-Jane
Hi Jane! PM Scott Morrison on March 17 said we'd be giving Papua New Guinea 8,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from our own stock - that will go ahead because we already have those doses.
He also said the government would formally request AstraZeneca and European Authorities for one million doses of Australia’s contracted supplies to gift to PNG - whether those get blocked by the EU or not, it's not yet clear.
By Daniel Smith
Locally-made AstraZeneca
Australian government gave the impression AstraZeneca vaccine would be manufactured in Australia. Why isn't that happening?
-Puzzled
Hi there Puzzled, it is indeed happening. In fact, according to comments from Federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy on March 5, we can expect the first locally-produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to be delivered this week.
At the time, he said the CSL facility in Melbourne was on track to deliver the first batch of doses in the week starting on March 22.
"A million doses-plus a week, which gives us the capacity to really ramp up and broadly vaccinate our population as quickly as possible."
By Daniel Smith
Coronavirus left a lasting impact on new parents and medical providers, new research finds
While COVID-19 brought much of normal life screeching to a halt last year, it couldn't stop new lives from being born - but the impact on parents and medical professionals is just coming to light.
It's the subject of world-first research by Curtin University, which found the impact was felt not just by new parents, but by the maternity workforce, including doctors, nurses, midwives, and midwifery students.
The study found high levels of anxiety in both parents and medical practitioners and found many families and practitioners felt the impact of trauma after a difficult or traumatic birth experience.
By Daniel Smith
Qld records no new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19
Queensland's numbers are in, and they've only recorded two new cases in hotel quarantine.
There are 54 active cases in the state.
By Daniel Smith
Our vaccine rollout
How is the vaccine rollout going? UK did 711,156 in one day. Have we used up the 700,000 in the first batch we received weeks ago?
-Curious as well
Hey there CAW, I don't have data current as of today, but on Thursday, Health Minister Greg Hunt said about 240,000 vaccines had been delivered.
So unless we've managed to seriously scale up the rollout in the past few days, I'd say it's pretty unlikely.
By Daniel Smith
How are the vaccines doing?
With some countries getting a large proportion of their population vaccinated, are we seeing drops in cases, hospital admissions and/or deaths? How well are the vaccines doing so far?
-Curious
Hi Curious, that's a good question. The UK has been doing pretty well in terms of vaccinating its population, so let's use them as an example. This BBC article from late last month quotes research from Public Health Scotland and says the vaccines are having a "spectacular" effect on preventing serious illness.
The research found at four weeks after the first dose, hospital admissions were reduced by 85 per cent and 94 per cent for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs respectively. Among the over 80s, there was an overall 81 per cent reduction in the numbers admitted to hospital.
Meanwhile, Israeli data shows that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has reduced severe disease by 92 per cent and hospitalisations by 87 per cent.
So it's definitely having a positive effect.
By Daniel Smith
State numbers
Morning, can I ask why you only report on Victoria having no new cases instead of all states please??
-Peter in Cairns
Hi Peter! That's because not all states release their data at the same time. As I get information from each state, I'll put it in here. Victoria happened to be the first cab off the rank.
By Daniel Smith
Government assessing how NSW floods will affect vaccine rollout
In case you missed it, NSW has copped a lot of rain - some extraordinary photos and videos have been posted on social media of a house floating down a river and locals standing in a pub with water up to their knees. (You can follow our live blog of the flooding here.)
Now, the federal government is assessing how the flooding will affect the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across the state.
"Clearly there will be expected disruptions for many freight and logistics movements across New South Wales as a result of these floods, and vaccines are not exempt from that," Finance Minister Simon Birmingham told Sky News.
"So we're working with our freight and distribution companies who are getting the vaccine from point A to point B to understand just how that will be impacted, and I expect that Health Department officials will have a bit more to say about that later today."
Phase 1B of the vaccination program is due to start tomorrow, with millions of Australians eligible to receive their first dose from their GP.
Senator Birmingham said many people in NSW were facing "difficult times" and Prime Minister Scott Morrison had offered the state government assistance from the Australian Defence Force.
By Daniel Smith
50pc of Victorian women exercising less than pre-pandemic, data shows
Still on Victoria, a VicHealth survey has found women's ability to exercise was more affected than men's during last year's coronavirus lockdowns.
Data shows half of Victorian women were exercising less than before the pandemic, while 75 per cent stopped playing sport.
VicHealth’s Melanie Fineberg said juggling childcare and remote learning was a real barrier for women during lockdown.
“Sixty-seven per cent of women reported that they were primarily responsible for helping school-aged children with remote learning in comparison to only 24 per cent of men. We're still seeing women carrying the lion's share of that unpaid work at home and that having a flow-on effect for their exercise, which affects physical and mental well-being.”
VicHealth has launched a campaign called "This Girl Can", which has a range of activities — online and in-person — to get women exercising again.
“It means you get the physical benefits, but really, and particularly for the year that we've all had, it's the mental wellbeing impact as well that women are missing out on at the moment, and we really want to get them back out there.”
Reporting by Phil Johnson
By Daniel Smith
Victoria records no new COVID-19 cases
It's the 23rd day in a row without a locally-acquired coronavirus case in Victoria.
With international flights into the state “paused” indefinitely, there were no overseas-acquired COVID-19 infections.
There is just one active confirmed infection in Victoria.
By Daniel Smith
Overseas whip-around
It's that time of the morning again! If you've read any of my coronavirus blogs, you know I like to take you around the world quickly to see what's happening - so let's have a look.
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Chile has recorded its highest daily number of new coronavirus infections, the latest South American country to be swamped by a resurgence of covid. Almost all hospital beds in the country are occupied, and the capital, Santiago, has been placed into lockdown this weekend. Chile has one of the world's most advanced vaccination campaigns but officials say the arrival of more contagious variants and a relaxation of sanitary measures has led to a rise in cases.
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The UK says half of the country’s adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The National Health Service has put shots in the arms of 26.9 million people, or 51 per cent of the adult population, according to the latest government statistics. The NHS passed the halfway point on Friday by delivering 711,156 doses. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday that’s the highest daily total since the mass vaccination program began in early December.
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Poland reported more than 25,000 coronavirus cases Saturday, compared to less than 15,000 in early March. Health Minister Adam Niedzielski blamed the increase on the British variant of the virus, which he described as “extremely infectious and vicious”. He urged Poles to observe restrictions that were reintroduced on Saturday, closing hotels, shopping malls, theaters, galleries, and sports centers. Poland’s authorities have urged people to get vaccinated, saying they’re speeding up registration of more age groups for the inoculation. They use Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines.
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Promises to vaccinate all Italians over 80 by the end of March have fallen woefully short, amid well-documented interruptions of vaccine supplies and organisational shortfalls. Just one-third of Italy’s 7.3 million vaccine doses administered so far have gone to people in that age group. The new government of Premier Mario Draghi has pledged to accelerate the vaccination campaign. It is aiming to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population by September. On Friday, Mr Draghi said Italy aimed to administer 500,000 shots a day by next month, from a current daily level of about 165,000.
By Daniel Smith
ICYMI
In case you missed it, here are some handy links and stories to cast your eyes over:
