PAUL KELLY:
Good afternoon, everyone. Paul Kelly here in Canberra with the COVID update, and I’m joined today by Lieutenant-General Frewen, who is- will give an update also in relation to the vaccination program. So firstly, obviously, everyone is looking at Sydney at the moment, and for the people of Sydney, I just want to really reach out to you and recognise that this is an extremely difficult time and very concerning in terms of the numbers of cases that are being reported, and including those severe cases in intensive care and in hospital. Tragically today, we’ve had our very first death in Australia from a locally acquired case – a woman in her 90s, I understand, a close contact of other family members. I would stress this was not somebody who was in an aged care facility, nor was it somebody who had had the chance to be vaccinated. So that is a terrible thing for that person, their family, and certainly my condolences to that particular family now. But I think we can see that increase in the cases. There’s some concerning signs there about still a large proportion of those – over 70 cases today in New South Wales had been in the community whilst infectious. The pleasing part is that the majority of those 77 cases were close contacts of known cases, and the New South Wales authorities are continuing to do an extraordinary job at chasing down those chains of transmission, making sure that they get to those quickly, doing rapid testing, getting those results, and taking the action that is required.
From the Commonwealth level, we are continuing to meet daily in the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, that group of chief health officers from around the country and other experts that I chair. We had another meeting today. We’ve gathered that information from New South Wales, given suggestions as we do, and I'm in very close contact with Dr Kerry Chant there in New South Wales, to give advice and to offer support where that’s possible. There’s very practical support, of course, that’s happening from the Commonwealth in relation to the situation in Sydney. And that includes, because that is a Commonwealth designated hot spot, there is funding available for aged care, for example. In terms of single site worker payments, there is the disaster- the COVID disaster payment which is also available now for people that are eligible in Sydney. There is a whole range of other supports that’s going into aged care, including our teams doing testing within- in-reach testing into aged care facilities as well as offering vaccination to those that may not have taken that up on the first and second round of in-reach vaccination. So that is all happening, and we are continuing to talk closely with the New South Wales authorities about what- anything else that they might need.
So, the specific message to Sydney today is the same as you’ve received from Dr Chant earlier in terms of what you need to do. This is a time for staying at home. Please do not look for a loophole in what that messaging might be. The message is, unless you have to absolutely leave the house for an essential reason – and they’re all listed on the New South Wales Health website, they’ve been talked about every day – we’ve talked about essential reasons for 18 months. Do not leave your home. This virus does not move by itself. It moves with people, and it’s when people are mixing that is when the virus spreads. We know that at this moment there are a large number of people with COVID-19 in Sydney. The assumption should be that if you are leaving the house, that you may be the person that has COVID-19. The people that you mix with may be people that have COVID-19. This is a risky time for Sydney. We need to take those messages very clearly and carefully, and that means stay at home unless you absolutely need to go out.
The other completely important part of that message is, if you are asked to get a test, get that test as soon as quickly- as soon as possible. If you have even the most minimal of symptoms, get a test. These are the ways we will be able to chase down those chains of transmission, block them, and stop that spread. The virus does move with people.
The third clear message is we can all get COVID-19, and some of us, as we’ve seen in Sydney in recent days, can get severe illness. So this is not a time for complacency. It’s not a time for frustration. It’s a time for actually recognising that and taking that responsibility and- for yourself, your family, and the community. On that basis, there will be a new ad that will be running from- advertisement from the Australian Government tonight. It’s quite graphic. We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney, and it will be running in Sydney. And the messages will be clear. Stay at home, get tested, and book in for a vaccination. There are- they’re the three messages on that ad, so watch out for that. It is quite graphic, and it’s meant to be graphic. It is meant to really push that message home that this is important.
My final thing before I hand over to General Frewen is in relation to Summit Aged Care in Baulkham Hills. This is where there is an active outbreak in that aged care facility. There is a lot of work that is going on from the Commonwealth in conjunction with New South Wales Health and local public health unit as well as Westmead Hospital. There are six residents that have been removed from that facility and transferred to hospital for their best care as well as to protect the residents of that aged care facility. Five of those six were fully vaccinated. Unfortunately, the sixth one was not, and I can report that she is quite unwell at the moment, seriously unwell in hospital. There are- and there are some aged care workers that have been involved in that outbreak, but that is under control. It’s not spreading through the Summit Aged Care, mostly due to the very high vaccination rate, two doses of Pfizer vaccine in that facility, as well as all of the very strong work that’s being done with extra workforce, 130 workforce that have come in through the Commonwealth mechanisms as well as PPE and other infection control procedures.
So, I will leave it there and pass on to General Frewen, and then I’ll come back for questions.
JOHN FREWEN:
Thanks, professor. Good afternoon, everybody. Like Professor Kelly, the members of the vaccination task force are monitoring the situation in New South Wales very carefully and we are also working closely with the authorities there.
But today I also wish to make another announcement. You’ve heard me speak a lot about vaccine supply, distribution and administration in recent weeks. Today I really want to focus on the communications around the vaccination and the important message that we need Australians to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. And today I have launched the next iteration of the communications campaign. It’s the Arm Yourself campaign and materials have already started to run on billboards, in social media and you will soon start to hear them on radio and see them on TV. The Arm Yourself campaign really seeks to rally Australians to both arm themselves and to arm their friends, loved ones and communities against COVID-19 through vaccination. The materials will be adapted for culturally diverse groups and for Indigenous communities and they will be translated into many languages, and we will continue to adapt the products as we go through the rollout through this year. This, I must urge, is not the entire campaign. The Arm Yourself campaign is just a phase of this and we will be continuing to adapt the campaign as we learn more about how the rollout is progressing and as we learn more about areas we need to emphasise in particular. In line with that, I do encourage all Australians to please go and book your vaccinations as soon as you can, if you haven't already done so, but please, I also asked people to be patient as we still seek to bring more vaccines online.
Professor Kelly has noted that there will also be a separate ad to the Arm Yourself campaign running in Sydney tonight. He has mentioned it is a graphic and confronting ad that is very much about the specific circumstances in Sydney right now, stressing to the residents of Sydney the importance of staying at home, of getting tested if necessary and booking your vaccinations. That ad will run very specifically in Sydney. Meanwhile, Arm Yourself will be running right across the country and again, encouraging all of us to protect ourselves, our friends and families and our communities. Thank you.
QUESTION:
Lieutenant-General, on the ads, the Arm Yourself campaign, it doesn’t explicitly mention the risks of COVID or even explicitly the benefits of being able to protect yourself, your loved ones in terms of what you’re protecting them from. Given the concern is that the majority of Australians are a bit relaxed about the risks to themselves of COVID, is that campaign going to be enough and why only target this sort of scarier version at Sydney where the lockdown is now, given it could be another city, another time? Why not take that approach nationally?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So, there have been a range of other materials available for many months now around both the risks of COVID and the efficacy of the vaccines. We will continue to provide those materials on the risks of COVID and the efficacy of both the vaccines we have available at the moment. Right now, we think it’s time to help just lift the community's awareness that this is both an individual thing and a community thing. So that is what Arm Yourself is really about, is just bringing a bit more of a community spirit to the idea of getting vaccinated and again, I’ve said, we will continue to adapt the campaign, we’ll continue to provide that other more factual information as we go, and when circumstances necessitate it, like we think they do in Sydney right now, we will help people understand the very dire consequences of COVID and help to bring a greater sense of urgency to those places where we need to.
QUESTION:
Why did you not opt, I guess, for a more flashy ad? I mean, it’s been described by a few people today as a bit plain. [Indistinct] Albanese says go back to the drawing board. Other countries – Singapore, New Zealand – we’ve seen celebrities, and song and dances, and that sort of thing. Was there a specific reason we didn't go for that sort of type of advertising?
JOHN FREWEN:
[Talks over] Yeah, as I’ve said, this is just another- a next phase of the campaign and we are going to build the campaign progressively towards the end of the year. You’d be aware from the materials that I’ve released, that it’s really October, November and December when we have the vast amounts of vaccine coming through. So we do wish to build up through the year. Arm Yourself will over the next month or so be adapted to help bring in the community and get the community to start participating. It’s very tailorable to specific regions, a specific language and cultural groups, as I mentioned, but I do anticipate that you will see those sorts of things that you have highlighted there later in the year.
QUESTION:
So, is this essentially an admission that you can't be encouraging everyone to rush because there aren't quite enough vaccines for everyone to do that yet? And will you be having more talks internationally about sourcing extra vaccines, as is being suggested today?
JOHN FREWEN:
So we are constantly working to bring forward vaccines where we can. You will have seen last week, a few weeks ago we were getting 300,000 doses of Pfizer a week into the country. In the next few weeks, that will go to around about a million doses a week. So that’s a very significant increase, that’s bringing forward of doses that we did have ordered that we were anticipating later in the year. That’s a very positive development. It’s been very welcomed by the jurisdictions. That will help people get access to Pfizer earlier.
As to the materials, I think it’s very appropriate that we progressively build a campaign to the later months in the year when we’re then more fully aware of exactly who has come forward to get vaccinated. And we then need to tailor products to help get those later groups of Australians may have been a bit slower to get vaccinated or a bit more hesitant to get vaccinated, we can really start to tailor the campaign then.
QUESTION:
How involved was the Prime Minister in the Arm Yourself campaign that’s gone out today?
JOHN FREWEN:
The campaign itself has gone through all of the usual government approval processes. The Prime Minister is aware of the materials, but it’s worked through the normal processes that the campaign would go through.
QUESTION:
Professor Kelly, could you speak to the epidemiology of the outbreak in Sydney? [Indistinct…] that is expected to continue. What are your key concerns and is it time to see things like door-to-door testing in those suburbs or areas that are particularly producing a lot of cases?
PAUL KELLY:
So, we need to understand the nature of a virus. The way I’ve described it to friends and family today is that the virus is like water in a leaky shower. It will find its way, in this way, into the community, and it will really just keep moving. I think the specific issues that are happening in south-west Sydney appears to be associated with large family groups in multiple houses and then- and they, with many of the members of those households working in essential workplaces – construction has been specifically mentioned – but they are out in the community, and so that is the reason why it is spreading in those areas. Now, what- how that can be looked at, and I know that New South Wales Health has talked about this as actually increasing the testing availability to those particular work places of concern. They’re reaching in many different ways into the multicultural community of south-west Sydney in particular where there is extraordinary and wonderful groups of family groups that are very closely associated with themselves and, in normal times, that is a good thing but these are not normal times. And so that message really is, stay within your own house and stay within your own family in that house, and don't go out.
QUESTION:
Professor Kelly. Today Nicole Chant in New South Wales- Kerry Chant, sorry, has stressed that people should get their second dose of AstraZeneca as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the 12 weeks. Can we get some clarification, from a Commonwealth point of view, what the recommendation is?
PAUL KELLY:
So, we have a national program and I’ll go to General Frewen in a moment about the national program, and how those- how that program is working. And so the advice from the TGA, as early as January this year, is that there is a range of times that you can get that second dose of AstraZeneca, between 4 and 12 weeks that is licensed for that use. We know from the clinical trials and real-world experience in other parts of the world, particularly the UK, that the longer you wait for that second dose at 12 weeks seems to be the optimal time to get that for longer term protection. And so that remains the national program and the national advice.
In Sydney right now, we need to weigh up immediate protection versus longer term protection. And so that immediate protection that would come from an earlier dose would make sense and Dr Chant did actually mention that today. I know that she’s been in discussion with the ATAGI group overnight. ATAGI, the medical experts in relation to vaccination, are meeting weekly to specifically look at AstraZeneca, the risk benefit analysis in relation to that. So they’ll have some advice on that specifically later in the week. But for now, I would join them in saying that if you are in Sydney, only in Sydney, then have a discussion with your GP to potentially bring that forward but that’s a kind of one-on-one discussion about that risk and benefit of that.
QUESTION:
So, I’m sorry, Professor, just on that. What would be the number that you would say? Would you say that people should start talking to their GP around the eight-week mark? I think Kerry Chant mentioned six, potentially, today. What would be your thought there [indistinct]? ATAGI, I mean, obviously that recommendation around second doses and that sort of thing, obviously the recommendation is 12 weeks. But could we see that [indistinct]… but could we see that potentially change? Maybe that national advice becomes eight weeks or something like that?
PAUL KELLY:
So, that would be a matter for ATAGI, obviously. And, yes, as you say, I’m not on that group specifically, but I do talk to them. The issue is that risk and benefit, right? So, at the moment anyone outside Sydney, stick with the 12 weeks. That’s a pretty clear thing from the national picture. For those in Sydney, it is licensed from four to 12 weeks, and so they should have that discussion with their GP. We’ll be talking with New South Wales Health and I’m sure they’ll be talking more broadly in Sydney itself. But earlier gives you less protection longer term, but it gives you protection, better protection now. That two doses is really important.
Anyone who is due for a second dose, please do not hesitate. If you had AstraZeneca first, get that second AstraZeneca, and similarly with the Pfizer doses. Two doses with this Delta variant is particularly important to protect against severe illness. And indeed even more mild illness which would assist with the- with stopping the spread. Did you want to add anything?
JOHN FREWEN:
No.
QUESTION:
General Frewen, on the aged care rollout, do you have an update on how many aged care staff have been vaccinated with first and second doses? And do you also have a number of aged care providers who have been approved to vaccinate their own staff?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look. More than a third of aged care workers now have had their first dose. I don't have those other figures that you’ve referred to. But we are working with aged care now. We’re very focused on getting not only the residents continual access to vaccines, but we are absolutely prioritising aged care workers. There are multiple avenues now open to aged care workers. Aged care workers are being given priority for bookings, they can access Pfizer. There is now protocols with the aged care facilities around people who will be visiting aged care facilities and how that might be managed by both the facilities. The facilities are looking now at new residents coming into the centres. This is right at the top of the concerns that I have at the moment, and we are looking at every possible avenue to make sure that aged care is as safe as it can be.
QUESTION:
Lieutenant-General Frewen, we’ve been seeing GPs delivering AstraZeneca transitioning to being GPs that deliver Pfizer. Given that that Pfizer allocation is potentially being brought forward, do we have enough of those GPs that have transitioned to be able to utilise those full 1 million or so doses a week? Or if not, where else will we- will they go to the state clinics? Where-
JOHN FREWEN:
[Interrupts] Oh no, absolutely. So, we have already allocated the bring forward of the Pfizer to be both states and territories, and to GPs. You’d be aware that almost 500 GPs were brought on last week, we’ve got another 500 coming on next week, another 300 towards the end of the month. Between the states and the GPs, there is absolutely no concern that all of that Pfizer will be administered.
I might just go to the people on the line here. Richard? You there?
QUESTION:
Thank you, Lieutenant-General. A question for you, how many of the 300,000 doses meant for south-west Sydney are now on the ground? And just for Professor Kelly, did he agree with Gladys Berejiklian that we’re going to see cases in New South Wales tip to over 100 a day in the next week?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, no. Those doses are being brought forward for delivery through next week and into the week after. But I’ve been speaking closely with New South Wales authorities and they will be brought into play with absolute priority into south-west Sydney, west Sydney, and south-eastern Sydney. But I’ll pass to Professor Kelly.
PAUL KELLY:
So, in terms of numbers, look. I’m not going to speculate on what the numbers are. And New South Wales Health know what they’re finding on the ground. I think, in fact, at this point in pandemic- in the epidemic, I would welcome high numbers. Finding people is the most important thing, finding them quickly and making sure that they are not out in the community and potentially spreading it further is the important thing. So, as has been stressed in- by the Premier and Dr Chant in recent days, you’ve got to look behind the numbers, that’s the important component of this. So, large numbers themselves, yes, they’re worrying. What we want to see is a decrease in the number of people that are out in the community and potentially infectious in their community whilst infectious. So that’s the important component. The fact that they are finding most of the people at the moment are close contacts is also a real demonstration that they’re doing that contact tracing, getting to people quickly, and that is a positive development.
So, yes, I also expect larger numbers, and I hope that they’ll start to fall soon, recognising that the- what the numbers we see today really reflects what was happening in the community a week or two weeks ago. And so, we know that we’ve- there’s been further lockdowns during that period, further advice over the last couple of days. And that will, I’m sure, take good effect on this type of outbreak. We’ve seen that before; we saw that in several other outbreaks in Australia that that can be successful. But it absolutely relies on people hearing the message clearly, staying at home, and only going out for absolutely essential reasons, and getting tested.
We’ve got Pablo from SBS News?
QUESTION:
Thanks, Professor Kelly. My question to Lieutenant-General Frewen – and apologies if you’ve already [indistinct] it – how much is this-; A participant has left the group call; And you mentioned that the ads will be translated into different languages. Is there going to be- do you anticipate, in the next days as there being an actual specific strategy targeting culturally and linguistically diverse communities?
JOHN FREWEN:
I’m sorry, Pablo. The first part of your question was interrupted then. Could you just repeat the first part?
QUESTION:
Oh, yes. The first part was just how much is phase of the campaign actually going to cost?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So, this campaign is part of the overall amount that’s been allocated of 40 million for this financial year- sorry, for this year. So this isn’t an additional cost, it’s part of that campaign rollout.
As to the specific tailoring of campaigns, we already do have some that are being worked for Indigenous and remote communities, and, of course, the states and territories themselves have campaigns as well. But this will really be more a process of just continual refinement, particularly as we get further through the year where we highlight areas that need additional focus.
QUESTION:
Do we expect any Pfizer to come from the United States? And are we in any discussion with the US authorities about the provision of more Pfizer? You might’ve seen Anthony Albanese calling for that earlier today?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, look. The Government is constantly in both negotiations with Pfizer and looking for other opportunities for sourcing of Pfizer. And, of course, we do also have the Moderna vaccine due to arrive later in the year, as well. So, constantly ongoing. As soon as we know about any possible additionals, we’ll be sure to let you know.
QUESTION:
Will there be any update to numbers in the Horizons document? I think the PM said yesterday- on Friday, that there might be. And also, is planning underway on workforce numbers for when the rollout hits the majority of the population later in the year?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So we are updating the Horizons document as we speak. We’ve already indicated to the states and territories the increased amounts that they can anticipate, particularly through July and out to the end of August. And we will- we’ll be making some modifications to that supply document now, because we do know what we will have for August. So we can have a fixed, sort of average amount for August, and then what you’ll still see in September is the range we anticipate, and then you’ll still see the range we anticipate for October to November.
And on workforce, both during the war game that I had with the states and territories this week and then at the forum that we had with industry with the Treasurer, workforce is a very key consideration at the moment. And, as I’ve said before, we’re looking at all of the options about how we need to potentially bring on either latent workforce that’s already out there or to raise additional workforce.
QUESTION:
Sorry, I’m not sure if you heard the rest of it. On the quite graphic ad that will be airing tonight, obviously there’s been some comparisons made to previous public health care [indistinct]… ad for HIV/AIDS, is that kind of the vibe that we’re seeing here? Obviously this will be on TVs in a few hours’ time, but what’s the sort of inspiration and what’s the sort of feel of this ad that we’ll be seeing?
JOHN FREWEN:
The ad tonight very graphically depicts the consequences of getting COVID and leaves people in no doubt of the importance of both the isolating, getting tested, and vaccinated.
QUESTION:
Professor Kelly, I understand the Government’s considering what support might be needed in terms of mental health services for people in Sydney potentially facing quite a long lockdown. Are you able to provide any information about that? Or what is already available and the advice to people in Sydney now who might be feeling quite upset and distraught about the figures they’ve seen in the last couple of days?
PAUL KELLY:
Yeah, sure. Look, as I said right at the beginning, really my heart goes out to people in Sydney. I have family and many friends in Sydney. So, this is a difficult time. Throughout the pandemic, we have had very large investments in strengthening mental health supports right throughout Australia and specifically in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria last year when they were going through type of outbreak, recognising it went for longer and much higher rates of cases. We hope we won’t get to that. But these are disruptive times. We recognise that, certainly, there’s that issue of mental health support. In specific mental health support in Sydney is being currently contemplated. It will be a decision for Government, obviously, what that plays out. But I’m sure there’ll be more discussions about that in the coming days.
QUESTION:
Professor Kelly, is there a case for the Victorian Government to close the Victorian border and have a hard border? And is that something AHPPC has been or will be discussing?
PAUL KELLY:
So, border closures is a matter for the state governments, with the internal border closures of Australia. Our general sense is that we don't support it from the Commonwealth but we can understand the- again, as per the previous question, Victorians remember last winter and they want to make sure that they are protected. That’s a matter, of course, for the elected government of Victoria to consider. It’s not an easy thing to do, to close the border with New South Wales. There are many, many places of- that people can cross that border, so I am sure it will be decision not taken lightly.
QUESTION:
Lieutenant-General, today we have seen formal confirmation that we’re out of Afghanistan. As someone who commanded troops there, your reflections? And do you think we achieved what we set out to do?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look, I'm very focused on the vaccine rollout now. Many men and women and other Australians served in Afghanistan. I think we achieved a great deal while we were there. We brought a lot of hope to many Afghans and I- my thoughts are with them in this difficult time, but this is now a matter for Afghanistan to resolve.
And I do just want to finish on reminding all Australians to please, to go and get vaccinated, arm yourselves against COVID, arm yourselves, arm your family, arm your friends and arm your communities, and book yourselves at the earliest opportunity. Thank you.
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