Update on Australia's COVID-19 vaccines
The Australian Government has announced a staged rollout of the vaccine, which is expected to commence in February 2021.
Healthcare professionals have an important role in discussing and delivering vaccination against COVID-19 with their patients.
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available from early mid-February this year. Doses of this vaccine will be available through 30 to 50 hubs at specific hospital sites across urban and rural Australia. Approval of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is anticipated for the coming months. Both vaccines will progressively be distributed through an expanded number of sites, including general practice clinics, existing Commonwealth GP respiratory clinics, state-run vaccination clinics and pharmacies.
The vaccine rollout roadmap has determined the phases of vaccination for priority groups. They are:
Phase 1a
- Quarantine and border workers
- Frontline at-risk health care workers
- Residential aged care and disability care staff
- Residential aged care and disability care residents.
Phase 1b
- Adults over 70 years
- All other health care workers
- Begin vaccinating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Younger adults with an underlying medical condition, including those with a disability
- Critical and high-risk workers including defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing.
Phase 2a
- Adults over 50 years
- Continue vaccinating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Other critical and high-risk workers.
Phase 2b
- Balance of adult population
- Catch up any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases
Phase 3
- People under 18 years if recommended
