Logan Reed
Australia has approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11, with about 2.3 million children in this age group expected to receive the jab. The AstraZeneca vaccine, produced at the University of Oxford, is also available in Australia. The Australian government had signed a deal for nearly 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with 20 million produced in Australia in 2021 by CSL. However, Australia was lagging behind in the COVID-19 vaccine race, with no full approvals for a vaccine as of January 2021. As of December 2021, nearly 88% of Australians aged 16 and older have been fully immunized, but the vaccination rate for Indigenous people is lower, at roughly 63%.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Date | 2nd January 2021 |
| Number of Vaccines Purchased | 4 |
| Types of Vaccines Purchased | AstraZeneca, Novavax, Pfizer, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) |
| Number of Australians Vaccinated | 88% of Australians over 16 |
| Number of Deaths | 2,042 |
| Number of Cases | 217,000 |
| Vaccine Misinformation | Spread by U.S. white supremacists |
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What You'll Learn
Australia's AstraZeneca vaccine
Australia has been working on procuring and developing vaccines for the coronavirus. The AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by biotechnology giant CSL, is one of the vaccines that Australia has bought. The AstraZeneca vaccine is also being produced at the University of Oxford. The Australian government signed a deal for nearly 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with 20 million to be produced in Australia in 2021 by CSL.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was on track to be ready by December 28, 2020, but it needed to be tested in various clinical trials. The Australian government could grant final approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine by late January, with a rollout in March. However, on New Year's Day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there would be ""no shortcuts" to introducing the vaccine into Australia.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is seen as the leading candidate across the globe. If all four vaccines are approved, every Australian could get the jab three separate times. CSL's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Andrew Nash, said that the AstraZeneca vaccine was well on track to be ready for release around the middle of 2021.
However, there have been some concerns raised about the AstraZeneca vaccine. In the US, a woman who participated in AstraZeneca's Utah trials in November 2020 reported experiencing severe side effects, including nerve damage and autoimmune issues. She filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca, alleging that they refused to comply with their contractual obligations to care for her.
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Low vaccination rates among Indigenous Australians
Australia has been lagging in the COVID-19 vaccine race, with no vaccinations administered as of January 2021. The Australian Government had initially planned to start immunising health workers and the elderly by March 2021, with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, this timeline has faced delays, with the government indicating that the vaccine could receive final approval by January 31, with a rollout in March.
In the present context of COVID-19, disparities in health outcomes persist for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, with lower life expectancy and higher morbidity rates. These communities have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and their vaccination rates are crucial to controlling outbreaks.
To address this, the Australian Government's "Closing the Gap" program aims to achieve equality in health status and life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Improving the quality and consistency of primary health care (PHC) services is an essential part of this initiative. PHC services are the cornerstone of Australia's health system, providing first contact and ambulatory care.
Additionally, the Australian Immunisation Handbook offers recommendations for vaccination against influenza, which has disproportionately impacted Indigenous Australians, particularly those aged 65 and above, and children under six months.
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Australia's tuberculosis vaccine trial
Australia has been working on developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. However, as of March 2020, there was no vaccine ready to be used on humans. The Australian government signed a deal for nearly 54 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with 20 million to be produced in Australia in 2021 by CSL. The AstraZeneca vaccine was expected to be available in Australia by late January 2021, with a rollout in March.
Now, for Australia's tuberculosis vaccine trial:
Tuberculosis, or TB, was once a leading cause of death in Australia. The country has since made significant progress in controlling the spread of the disease, and now has one of the lowest TB incidence rates globally.
The history of tuberculosis control in Australia includes the development of vaccines. In 1945, Dr Nancy Atkinson, an Australian bacteriologist, produced the country's first Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against TB. This vaccine was later mass-produced by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL).
The BCG vaccine is currently recommended for specific high-risk groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under five years of age in certain parts of Australia. These vaccinations are funded by states and territories. Clinical trials have been conducted to assess the relationship between tuberculin reactions after BCG vaccination and the level of protection offered, but no consistent correlation has been established.
While Australia has made progress in tuberculosis control, the World Health Organization still considers the disease a global emergency.
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Australia's childhood vaccination rates
Australia has been working on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. However, as of January 2021, the country had not administered any vaccines. The Australian Government could grant final approval for the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine by late January, with a rollout in March. The Federal Government signed a deal for nearly 54 million doses of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, with 20 million to be produced in Australia in 2021 by CSL.
Now, let's discuss Australia's childhood vaccination rates in detail:
Australia has been actively working to increase immunisation coverage for children. The Australian Government provides free vaccines to eligible individuals, including young children, older citizens, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, and others who are at higher risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. The coverage rate for children at the age of five is 93.27%. This rate decreases slightly for one-year-olds at 91.63% and further for two-year-olds at 89.76%. While these rates are high, they have not met the aspirational target of 95% set by the Australian government.
The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is a national registry that records all funded and most privately purchased vaccinations administered to individuals of all ages in the country. This registry was established in 1996 as the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register and was later expanded and renamed in 2016 to include all vaccinations.
The coverage rates vary across different local areas in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory has exceeded the 95% target rate for five-year-old immunisation coverage. However, the coverage rates for one-year-olds and two-year-olds have decreased below the aspirational target in recent years.
Achieving higher immunisation coverage rates is crucial to attaining herd immunity and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Australia is collaborating with other countries through the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020 to increase immunisation coverage worldwide.
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Australia's 'zero covid' policies
Australia's COVID-19 vaccination programme has been criticised for its slow rollout. As of January 2021, Australia had yet to approve any vaccines, with the government stating that there would be “no shortcuts” in the process. The AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by Oxford University, was expected to be the first to be approved, with the Australian government signing a deal for 54 million doses. The Australian acting chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, stated that the nation's vaccination plan was "on target".
The Australian government's cautious approach to vaccine approval was influenced by the country's relatively low coronavirus numbers. With only hundreds of thousands of cases per year, there was less urgency to rapidly roll out a vaccine compared to other countries experiencing more severe outbreaks. However, there were concerns that delaying the vaccine rollout could erode Australia's advantage in keeping numbers low.
In the absence of widely available vaccines, Australia focused on basic outbreak prevention strategies such as social distancing, self-isolation, therapeutics, and testing. The Australian Centre for Disease Control emphasised the importance of monitoring and reporting national data, as well as providing guidelines to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The Australian government also implemented surveillance activities to help understand disease patterns and respond to outbreaks in high-risk settings, such as hospitals and residential aged care homes.
While Australia lagged behind other countries in vaccine approvals and distribution, it actively contributed to the global effort to develop a vaccine. Australian researchers cited reports of up to 60 candidate vaccines in development, with work being carried out in collaboration with scientists and experts from other countries. Despite the challenges, Australia's vaccination programme eventually gained momentum, with the AstraZeneca vaccine approved for use and the country's health workers and elderly population receiving their first doses by March 2021.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Australia has approved and is administering the Pfizer vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine, produced at the University of Oxford, is also available.
The first batch of coronavirus vaccines was ready in Australia by New Year's Day, 2021. However, the rollout of the vaccine began in March 2021.
As of December 2021, nearly 88% of Australians aged 16 and older have been fully immunized. Australia's overall childhood immunization coverage is also one of the highest in the world, with 95% of 5-year-olds inoculated with vaccines recommended for their age.
Australia has faced challenges in ensuring equitable access to the vaccine for all its citizens. For example, Western Australia has the lowest two-dose immunization rate in the country, with just over 77% of those 16 and above fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate for Indigenous people is even lower, at roughly 63%. Misinformation spread by U.S. white supremacists has been blamed for vaccine hesitancy among Aboriginal communities.
