In NSW people are losing their jobs, their businesses and their entire livelihoods. There is no end in sight for this current lockdown of 6 million people that is costing the economy $1 billion per week, and costing people their livelihoods.
Last year when the Australian government announced a local manufacturing deal with CSL to produce 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, there was a sense that we had a real way out of this COVID mess. In March 2021, the TGA approved CSL to produce this vaccine and they were quickly producing more than 1 million doses per week, right here in Australia.
A PROMISING START
We had a well-managed COVID response (relative to the rest of the world) and plenty of vaccines on the way. However, there is now a sense we have blown this head-start.
When I was working for NSW Health earlier this year, (I finished six years there in April) there was a sense of excitement that we could rely on this locally manufactured vaccine, get it into the arms of our citizens quickly and achieve that magic herd immunity - early.
Fast forward to today and we are in the perplexing position of having an oversupply of the AstraZeneca vaccine. So much so that we are looking to donate and potentially export it.
We should be having a conversation about the health risks of mass vaccination using AstraZeneca versus the health impact of locking down 6 million people.
Why does this delay matter? Because people are losing their livelihoods and there are huge mental health impacts associated with this.
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BALANCING PRIORITIES
We are now in a situation where we are reliant on the overseas supply of alternate vaccines which will substantially delay our achievement of herd immunity and the end to this and other lockdowns.
Why does this delay matter? Because people are losing their livelihoods and there are huge mental health impacts associated with this.
There is also the issue that we will miss out on the opportunities associated with having our borders open earlier. Effectively, other countries will get their borders open and capitalise on the economic opportunities available before we are able to do the same.
I’m not a medical doctor and I’m not here to tell people what vaccine they should or shouldn’t have. However, we should be having a conversation about the health risks of a mass vaccination program using the AstraZeneca vaccine, versus the health impact of locking down 6 million people.
These health impacts are very real. To use a blunt example – how many people will suffer serious life-threatening mental health consequences during this lockdown because they have lost their livelihoods, versus how many people will suffer serious health consequences from blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine?
How many people will suffer serious life-threatening mental health consequences during this lockdown because they have lost their livelihoods?
Remember that millions of doses of AstraZeneca have been used successfully worldwide. The UK alone has given over 30 million doses with the country now moving towards normality and open borders.
For multiple reasons, the public messaging around the AstraZeneca vaccine has been so poor that it is now akin to getting a rusty needle in a back alley. It has been reported that the risk of dying from the AstraZeneca vaccine is about the same as dying from a lightning strike and you are 50 times more likely to die from a car accident.
We have the vaccines, and we have people and delivery systems in place to get people vaccinated quickly via the public health systems and GP networks. The option is there now, via a concerted effort, for the broader population to get vaccinated using the AstraZeneca vaccine with a shorter timeframe between jabs one and two. We could have herd immunity in months.
Fast forward to today and we are in the perplexing position of having an oversupply of the AstraZeneca vaccine. So much so that we are looking to donate and potentially export it.
We are now in a situation where we are reliant on the overseas supply of alternate vaccines which will substantially delay our achievement of herd immunity and the end to this and other lockdowns.
Why does this delay matter? Because people are losing their livelihoods and there are huge mental health impacts associated with this.