HUNTER GPs are finding demand for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has waned following the death of a Central Coast woman who received the injection a week before she died.
Doctors have told the Newcastle Herald that many Hunter residents have decided to delay getting the AstraZeneca injection, or wait until the Pfizer vaccine becomes more widely available, following growing concerns of its link to a "very rare" side effect that can cause a blood clotting disorder.
But the drop in demand was "not across the board", with at least one Newcastle practice reporting it still has more than 500 people on its waiting list for the vaccine.
Dr Lee Fong and Dr Joanne Wood, from the Hunter GP Association, said "hitting the pause button" was entirely reasonable for people under 50 given their higher risk of developing the disorder.
But they were concerned about hesitancy in people aged over 50. They explained that for people over 50, the chance of developing the blood clotting condition, and dying, after an AstraZeneca vaccine was "about one in almost 3 million". But, just with the small outbreaks we have had so far, they said the risk of a 50 year old dying from COVID-19 in Australia had already been 10 in one million - rising to 180 in a million for a 70 year old, and 4600 in a million for a 90 year old.
For comparison, they said that the risk of dying while driving on an Australian road was about 1 in one million for every 200 kilometres travelled.
"Right now, the decision to get vaccinated can be a difficult one, particularly when the risk of getting COVID-19 in Australia is very low at the moment," they said in a statement.
"If everyone in Australia received an AstraZeneca vaccine, at a one in one million risk, there might be 26 related deaths. Each death would be a tragedy, devastating all of the families and friends affected.
"In coming months, it is inevitable that our borders will be opened. It will be done cautiously. But even so, over time, we can expect that most - if not all - Australians will eventually be exposed to COVID-19."
If half the Australian population was exposed to COVID-19, they said even at a one-in-500 risk of dying it could translate to 26,000 deaths, given almost two in every 100 people with COVID-19 in the US had died.
They said in Canada, nearly 24,000 people had died with COVID-19, and 38 had been dying each day over the past week.
While 26 possible deaths from the AstraZeneca vaccine was still 26 deaths too many, it was "far better" than 26,000 from COVID-19, they said.
