By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Some Australian scientists have suggested delaying mass vaccination with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to consider another shot.
Questions surrounding the vaccination in Australia, which recorded just one new local case of the coronavirus on Wednesday, have raised a cloud over vaccination plans, with 53 million doses of AstraZeneca jab already ordered.
Experts cited data showing that the AstraZeneca jab is 62% effective, compared to more than 90% for a vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.
“The question really is whether it (AstraZeneca) is capable of providing herd immunity. We’re playing a long game here. We do not know how long it will last,” said Professor Stephen Turner, President of the Australian and New -Seelandse Vereniging, said. for Immunology (ASI).
Turner added that the government should turn to get more Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
Earlier, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that the vaccine against AstraZeneca was not one “I would use widely because of the lower effectiveness.”
In a statement, the ASI said Turner speaks as an expert in immunology and that the body does not advocate a break for implementation, as widely reported by local media.
Australia has agreed to buy 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, although AstraZeneca or Pfizer has the approval of the country’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Its vaccine is approved in Britain, India and Argentina and is being evaluated by several other countries, including South Korea and Brazil.
‘EFFICIENT, SAFE, HIGH QUALITY’
Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has sought to address concerns about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, calling it ‘effective’, ‘safe’ and ‘high quality’.
“The big advantage of the AstraZeneca vaccine is that it is made here in Australia,” Kelly said. “It will be available as soon as the TGA gives a tick, which we expect it to be in February.”
Kelly said Australia would have more information by February, as well as ‘real information’ coming from London, which had already rolled out the vaccine.
Australia was more successful in managing the pandemic than many other countries, with total infections in the country of 25 million people with about 28,600 people, with 909 deaths. (Graphics: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
Its success can largely be attributed to closed borders and widespread compliance with social distance rules, coupled with aggressive testing and detection programs.
Given the low number of cases and the transmission rates in the community, some experts believe that Australia can afford to wait for a more effective vaccine.
“The government needs to be flexible in its implementation decisions once we have a better understanding of the efficacy of the other vaccines,” said Adrian Esterman, chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia.
Australia on Wednesday recorded one new local coronavirus case in its most populous state of New South Wales.
In Queensland, hundreds of guests in the hotel quarantine had to be forced to resume their isolation after a handful of cases at the plant were linked to the highly contagious virus strain in the UK.
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Reuters COVID-19 tracker https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
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(Reported by Swati Pandey; edited by Gerry Doyle, Sam Holmes and Mike Collett-White)