scrubbedexpat098

if it has to be 12 weeks then it'll make no difference to me, bugger

BEVS

AFAIK delaying a 2nd vaccine dose to the 12 wk mark after a 1st AZ one is best. It does seem a mix and match approach may well be a good idea.

edit..Ah! I just saw it is about the wait time . Pfizer would have been better for you.

themerlin

I don't think the Queensland have any say in what the GPs do.

I hope it's not too busy when I get my booster, it was so quiet last time they didn't want to open a 5 dose vile because they might not be able to use it in the day, had about 7 staff doing nothing.

themerlin

[QUOTE=Beoz;13023780]Thank goodness Sydney lockdowns are lockdown lite. All shops open, beaches, golf, no distance from home restrictions (except going to the regions.)/QUOTE]
Probably why half of todays cases have been out in the community

Beoz

I can't keep up with what the communist states can and can't do. The rhetoric was very strong to the point it was insistent. Maybe it was just Queensland bluster and bravado.

Beoz

[QUOTE=themerlin;13024266] They did say it was people moving around for work, but I am pretty sure NSW was never striding for zeros.

abner

Well, AstraZeneca have stated they'll deliver according to contract, and expect to get paid accordingly.

My bet is that Morrison will attempt to dump the surplus-to-requirements AZ jabs on PNG, East Timor and various Pacific islands.

Done sensitively, e.g. with some additional logistical support for distribution, some training at the local clinic level, and some judicious marketing about how the AZ shot is more effective the the Sino-XXXX vaccines, that might even create an Australian diplomatic win from the dumping exercise.

But yeah, it's the Morrison government, so that won't happen.

abner

And if that had been an option open to me, I would have gone for it.

The high-efficacy of the mixed dose approach (in either order) has been apparent to--and therefore authorised by--health authorities in other first-world nations (e.g. Canada, various EU nations) for many weeks. It is a mystery why Australia's TGA is having so much trouble keeping up. Perhaps a 'not invented here' bias??

Amazulu

Australia already supplying vaccines to PNG and Pacific Islands

abner

Didn't say otherwise.

But it won't take much social media chatter for the recipient nations to get highly cynical about Australia's motives (and vaccine-hesitant as well -- they have much younger populations, on average), if pretty much all our donated vaccines to such countries are AZ ones from now on.

But again, there's still a chance for Australia to distinguish itself from Chinese "vaccine diplomacy", if done right.

Amazulu

And I never said that you didn't say otherwise

AZ is manufactured in Australia but will no longer be required here in a few months, so it would make sense to donate it to less wealthy countries

China's having mixed results with their vaccine diplomacy. Big problems for them in South America and doctors in some countries are refusing to administer it. I'd say the US is probably way ahead of China in this area too as they are funding a huge vaccine rollout to 3rd world countries

abner

You've rather missed the point. AZ will no longer be required in Australia, roughly by October, because nobody in Australia will accept it in the face of better alternatives. And that lack of acceptance for AZ in Australia will be readily apparent to the wider world, including PNG, East Timor, and Pacific Oceania.

"Giving away" less effective vaccines is going to be as much of a problem for Australia at that point, as it has been, according to your own description above, for China.

In the absence of, as I suggested earlier, distribution support and educational support.

Amazulu

You've obviously got a bee in your bonnet about AZ - and that's your issue. Words cannot describe how little I care about that - so party on with yourself with that one champ!

Australia has barely enough Pfizer and Moderna for itself (and we could probably agree on the reasons) let alone giving it away to other countries! Australia does plenty in the Pacific and spends billions, so the countries that China wants to influence will have to decide which way they want to go. We could always do more but we don't do nothing - but haters gotta hate

abner

And yet you've commented 15 times on this thread...which is primarily about my views on the AZ vaccine.

Amazulu

Which cumulated in post #208 - that's when the decision was made turbo! Essentially, we're debating a given - which is pointless

Guess what? In reality (as opposed to Bizarroland) we're allowed to do that. But party on with your agenda