FLOOD US WITH DATA AND JABS, MR GUNNER
EWS that the Moderna vaccine could be approved for children as young as two is a big development in our fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
For months, parents and political leaders had been wondering how the youngest would fare when states and territories hit their 80 per cent vaccination benchmarks.
If clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine are approved, it would mean the potential for even greater herd immunity across the population against Covid-19.
It would also give parents peace of mind for back-toschool time. Currently kids younger than 12 can’t receive any vaccine.
Moderna is also exploring Australian manufacturing of the cutting edge mRNA vaccines, shoring up our supplies.
For Chief Minister Michael Gunner, this announcement means it is time we outline how the NT can fully emerge and reopen to the rest of the world.
It also means Territorians deserve a much clearer picture of how the vaccine rollout is going.
Currently both the commonwealth and Territory governments are providing progress reports as to the NT’s vaccination rate.
But the data is confusing and poorly communicated even for journalists, let alone the average layman.
For instance:
no suburb by suburb breakdown of vaccination rates for Darwin or Alice Springs.
Territory’s vaccination target of 80 per cent only counts doses administered to people aged 16 and over, despite the vaccine being opened up to people aged 12 to 15.
Territory and commonwealth measure the NT’s vaccination rate differently. The NT measures it by vaccinations administered in the Territory, whereas the commonwealth measures it by Medicare address, leading to a 10 per cent variation depending on where you look.
Frankly, it’s a mess. If kids as young as two can potentially receive the vaccine in coming months, now is a great time to standardise, streamline and clarify the Territory’s vaccination. Will our targets still be based on 16+ when virtually all age groups are eligible?
Health authorities also need to be armed with granular data, on a suburb by suburb basis, to make sure an even spread of vaccination rates.
The more data the public and media are provided by government, the better we all can target our attention to ensuring that everyone is as motivated as possible to get the jab.