KARL STEFANOVIC:
A year after the coronavirus pandemic forced Australians around the country into lockdown, things are finally looking up.
ALLISON LANGDON:
We've gone weeks without community transmission; a vaccine is being produced right here on Aussie soil. And this weekend, a raft of further restrictions are being eased in both Victoria and New South Wales. But just how close are we to being COVID clear?
Let's bring in Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly in Canberra. So, Professor, are we in the clear?
PAUL KELLY:
Hi, Ally, look, we're not in the clear yet. But you're quite right, it's looked very good since the beginning of the year. We've had very few days where we've had community transmission anywhere in Australia, all the borders are open, and as you say, many states are removing a lot of restrictions which is quite appropriate at this point with no community transmission.
But we are still in the middle of a very large global pandemic and it's the border- the border restrictions that we've had over the last year which has really put us into that situation, and the way out of this is the rollout of the vaccine. Starting right now with deliveries of our own locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine, which is a fantastic piece of news.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
So, Victoria will start accepting international flights in less than two weeks. How confident are you in their hotel quarantine system?
PAUL KELLY:
I'm very confident in the Victorian quarantine system. They had issues last year, which have been well documented and talked about. I don't need to go into that again.
But they built a very good system and they've improved on it again with the work of Professor Allen Cheng, a very trusted and esteemed colleague of ours on the Australian Health Protection Committee. He's produced even more stringent measures to the Victorian authorities and they're rolling those out in terms of controlling the virus spread within quarantine, and that's very important.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Professor, do you have any worries about Queensland at the moment? We know that half of their positive cases in hotel quarantine are from PNG. And have you got any concerns about a variant of the virus?
PAUL KELLY:
So, PNG is a concern. Obviously, there's a very large outbreak happening to our very near north. And so, the Australian Government has been very quick in responding to that. And we have our AUSMAT team on the ground right now. I'll be talking to them later today to see what they think is the next thing that should be done to assist.
We had yesterday, Air New Guinea carried the personal protective equipment and other supplies that had been promised. They've arrived, vaccines have arrived and are being used right now to protect healthcare workers in Port Moresby initially.
So, we're doing all of that. And I think controlling and assisting that outbreak in Papua New Guinea is very important, not only for them, but to also protect Australians. The other thing that's rolling out very quickly is the vaccination in the Torres Strait. So, we've gone further than the Phase 1B that we're rolling out in the rest of Australia, by actually offering the vaccine to any adults in the Torres Strait, starting with those islands very close to the border with Papua New Guinea.
And then, of course, we are seeing, as you say, people from Papua New Guinea with this new variant of the virus, but it's not a variant of concern. I would really stress that. There's no evidence that this is something that leads to more severe illness or more transmission.
But it is a variant, as we've seen many variants around the world, and the way to stop variants, of course, is to stop the virus in its tracks and to stop it circulating amongst people.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Paul, there has been some concern amongst mothers' groups that the AstraZeneca vaccine can lead to miscarriages. There's some information doing the rounds. What would you say to that? Is it true?
PAUL KELLY:
There's no evidence that I'm aware of that that's the case. We do know that COVID-19 infection itself can affect pregnant women that's another good reason why young women; when they're- who may be wanting to become pregnant, should be lining up when their turn in the queue comes to get the vaccine, because that's going to be very protective for them and for their unborn child if they were to become pregnant.
So, that's a very important message. It is not a reason to hesitate in getting the vaccine. There is no evidence that the vaccine causes that problem.
ALLISON LANGDON:
That's one of your greatest challenges right now, isn't it, the amount of misinformation that's out there?
PAUL KELLY:
It certainly is. And it has been from the beginning of the vaccine rollout. And I would, again, really urge people to look at the authoritative sources. So, go to health.gov.au or your state-based government resources and really, there's a lot of information there that can really assist with some of the misinformation that is being put out by others.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Good on you, Paul.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Thanks.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Thank you.
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