JAB ROLLOUT A LIFESAVER
THE rollout of the coronavirus vaccination program shapes as one of the most significant peacetime operations in our nation’s history. In Tasmania, planning had begun to ramp up over the past week as health authorities and key stakeholders such as those in the aged care sector and emergency services waited for the Therapeutic Goods Administration to grant approval to the first of the vaccines to be used in Australia.
The green light for the Pfizer vaccination jab was given on Monday, the medical regulator saying it was safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 illness. The AstraZeneca vaccine is also expected to be approved by the TGA in coming weeks.
The widespread rollout of the vaccines is being billed as the dramatic gamechanger we need to tackle the far-reaching impacts of the coronavirus.
Safeguarding the health of our population is paramount, but the potential of a successful vaccine program can also bring greater certainty in border policies and help those businesses in hospitality and travel that are so dependent on the largely unrestricted movement of people.
In announcing the approval of the Pfizer vaccination, Prime Minister Scott Morrison reinforced the government’s position that the first people treated would be aged-care residents and staff, quarantine and border workers and frontline healthcare staff.
A start date is not yet locked in, and it is possible that global supply problems could slow the rollout. But the federal government remains confident of starting vaccinations in late February and that up to four million people across the country would be vaccinated by early April.
Here in Tasmania, it is widely acknowledged we have been spared much of the pain and disruption other mainland states have endured during the pandemic.
The threat posed by the virus remains and the message of complacency is one that Premier Peter Gutwein and senior health officials continue to warn against.
Which brings us to the vaccination rollout.
It is natural there will be some scepticism in the community about the jab. The government is addressing the concerns and providing assurance vaccinations are safe. Vaccinations will not be compulsory. They will be free, but the government cannot force people to have them.
But for the good of our state, the health of our population and the prosperity of our economy, the government believes the jab is essential.
Australia has long championed vaccination against childhood diseases and this month reached immunisation gold standard with a 95.09 per cent vaccination rate for five-year-olds.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says it is those figures which bode well for the imminent COVID-19 vaccine rollout.