PAUL KELLY:
Just a quick update on a number of issues related to the COVID-19 situation here in Australia. First, some numbers. So we are now up to 22,366 cases, and so far this year we've had- apologies, that's the locally acquired cases. The total cases, 29,137, of which 702 have occurred this year. The vast majority of those cases this year have been overseas acquired. As we know, in the last couple of days, there's been some issues both in New South Wales and Queensland related to hotel quarantine and also the case of the doctor in Queens- in a Brisbane hospital. But excellent work by my colleagues in those two states, and the public health authorities are doing all the things we expect now, in a public health response. And so far, no community transmission, which is fantastic, I really take my hat off as always to the people in Sydney and also in Brisbane, who have responded to that call to be tested, and that's the way we find out if there are any cases, and to take note of instructions from the public health authorities. So, so far so good from that situation.
The other element I want to talk about today is there's been a lot of news around AstraZeneca vaccine and concerns Concerns in some parts of Europe, some countries in Europe who have suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in those [audio skip] a concern about blood clots. So I just want to make it very clear that here in Australia, safety is our first priority, and in any large vaccine rollout we do expect to see unusual events, and we monitor very closely and carefully for those. But this does not mean that an event that happens after vaccination has been given is indeed due to that vaccine. So we do always take it seriously, we do investigate, but in this situation I can absolutely say that I remain confident the AstraZeneca vaccine, that it's safe, and that there is, at this point, no evidence that it causes blood clots. No evidence that it causes blood clots. Blood clots happen. They happen in Australia fairly commonly. There's about 17,000 cases of blood clots in Australia every year, so we do expect to see blood clots at the time when vaccinations are given. But, from my perspective, I do not see that there is any specific link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots. And I'm not alone in that opinion; today we asked our expert committee, the Australian Technical Advisory Committee on Immunisation [sic], the ATAGI group - Australia's best experts on vaccination and side effects related to vaccination - to meet and to look at the evidence as it is currently stated. And I'll quote from their statement that they've put out today: So based on the evidence to date, ATAGI do not see any reason to pause the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia. They noted that blood clots do occur, and they occur commonly, but there is no signal at this point that has been identified in the UK, for example, where 11 million doses have been administered to date, of a link(*) [audio skip]. And that's quoting another expert committee, the MHRA, which is the Therapeutic Goods Administration equivalent in the UK. The TGA itself is closely monitoring the situation, and they have put a statement out today essentially saying the same thing, that whilst they are aware of the situation and have been in close contact with European authorities, at this point they do not see any link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and this blood clot issue. So of course, we will continue to monitor that situation, but here in Australia, myself, the TGA, the ATAGI group are all in unanimous agreement there is nothing- no link between AstraZeneca and the blood clots. Internationally, the World Health Organization came over- came out overnight and said the same thing. They have encouraged any country that's using the AstraZeneca vaccine to not suspend those vaccines at this stage but to continue with the rollout of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Canada and the UK are similar, and the overarching regulatory agency in Europe, the EMA, is also of that opinion. So I think I will leave it there. I'm happy to take questions on the phone. I believe Clare Armstrong from The Daily Telegraph is there?
QUESTION:
Hi, Professor, thanks. I have two questions, firstly with regards to- could you just speak to the risk of the outbreak in PNG and how it might impact Australia's own ability to keep COVID offshore? And secondly on concerns about states stockpiling the vaccine doses that they've been allocated. I understand, for example, Queensland has been allocated 86,000 doses but only administered 18,000, are you concerned about that gap between received and delivered?
PAUL KELLY:
[Audio skip] question first. Yeah, so I'm very concerned about the situation in Papua New Guinea. We're watching that very closely and actively. We've had several meetings on that in the past 24 hours, and there will be announcements about that in the not-too-distant future about Australia might be doing there. But first thing I can say is since late last week the decision was made to roll out the vaccination program in the Torres Strait, and so that's happening. It started I think last Thursday or Friday, and they're currently vaccinating in Saibai Island, one of the islands in the Torres Strait very close to the Papua New Guinea mainland. So that's one element that has already started, and we're looking at what else- what other things can be done, in relation to PNG and also to protect Australia. And there will be announcements soon about that. In terms of state stockpiling, just to say, as was mentioned by Professor Murphy and the Prime Minister on Sunday, we are completely reliant on the- on supply. It's supply vaccine which is dominating, at this stage, how we roll out the vaccine program- vaccination program here in Australia. And so in terms of the Pfizer vaccines, we rely on them coming just in time, weekly, at this point, from overseas. And once we have those vaccines, we have allocations that are going to the state Pfizer hubs, they are receiving those vaccines, and it is up to them to deliver it. And we will be- we've been giving weekly doses. They've been arriving in each and every state and territory over the last month. In terms of the AstraZeneca vaccine, that is now also rolling out, and that's going [audio skip] the states and territories again for them to distribute according to their plans. From next week, very excitingly, we will start to have our next rollout in general practice. And so those deliveries are happening now, and they will be available next week for general practices. Initially a group of a little over a thousand general practices right around Australia will be having those vaccines and using them immediately, is the plan. In terms of what the states and territories do with the vaccines that arrive and how they distribute them, that's really up to them and you would need to ask them clear about what they're doing with those vaccines. Go to Tamsin of the The Herald Sun? Are you there, Tamsin?
QUESTION:
Hi, Professor. Sorry. The MCG is just getting ready to host the first round of the AFL at the moment, and it'll be starting at a capacity of 50. If people are sitting outside, could that capacity be lifted? What would you think would be a [indistinct]… at the moment?
PAUL KELLY:
So… sorry, just… it's one of the Chief Health Officers. So, look, there are decisions to be made about outdoor events, and certainly it's great to see the AFL restarting. Hard to believe it's the new season already, but I look forward to seeing crowds at those events. The- we know that outside events are much safer than inside events in terms of transmission of the virus. But of course, if you have no virus in the community, there is no community transmission risk. And so really those decisions need to be made by the states and territories themselves, based on their local [audio skip] and the risk at the time. So I'm sure there'll be further discussions through the season related to that, and it will very much depend on the situation here in Australia. At the moment, it's excellent, but we've seen over the last week or so that things can change quickly in terms of local transmission. And so, we need to be nimble, as we've always been, in relation to the plan to deal with this virus, including for that sort of event.
Olivia, from The Australian.
QUESTION:
Thanks Professor Kelly. Can you hear me?
PAUL KELLY:
Yes.
QUESTION:
Great. Are there any signs of increasing vaccine hesitancy in Australia since the blood clotting reports out of Europe? And are you able to explain why Australia is pressing on [indistinct]… AstraZeneca when so many European countries have made the decision to suspend it? Have these European health authorities made a mistake?
PAUL KELLY:
So, several parts to that question. I think in terms of vaccine hesitancy, in fact, up until the latest surveys we've done in the last week, we have found a drift towards less hesitancy, if that makes sense. So, mostly throughout the period leading up to the start of the vaccine rollout, we had around about 60 per cent of people saying that they would get the vaccine immediately once it was offered to them. About 10 per cent or less who said that they were not interested in getting the vaccine and around 30 per cent who weren't sure, or that they might want to wait. Over the last few weeks since we started the vaccine rollout, that hesitancy group has diminished, which was a very good sign. I wouldn't be surprised, although we have no evidence of this at the moment, that people, when they hear the issues as has occurred in relation to the European countries that have taken this action around blood clots, that they may increase hesitancy, but I don't have any evidence one way on the other on that at the moment.
What I would say to people is please listen to the experts, and I mentioned all of the groups that have come out across the world and here in Australia, our own experts- expert committee, our own TGA, the regulator of medicines and therapeutic goods here in Australia, myself as Chief Medical Officer and my colleagues, all have faith in the AstraZeneca vaccine. Several of my Chief Health Officer colleagues have received that vaccine. Professor Murphy and Minister Hunt also received that vaccine in the last week or so. So we have confidence in that vaccine and others should do so as well.
Sally from the Canberra Times.
QUESTION:
Hi Professor. I wanted to ask again about AstraZeneca. Now, the European Medicines Agency, it is investigating these blood clot claims even though it says that people should keep using the vaccines, but it is due to determine its outcome on Thursday. So, why did you make the decision not to pause for just a couple of days, to wait for that information to come through, when we are in a situation where we're not having huge case numbers a day and that we do have, I guess, a little of bit leeway to pause there?
PAUL KELLY:
So we've been in very close contact, as we have been right throughout the vaccine development phase and the rollout phase across the world, with international regulators. I know that my colleague, Professor Skerritt, was in touch quite a lot during the night with his European colleagues around this matter. And so, we're very- we know a lot about what's happened in Europe, particularly the 17 million doses that have been given across Europe and the UK, and there has been no solid evidence that the blood clots or any other major event has occurred in relation to the AstraZeneca vaccine that shows a definite cause relationship between the vaccine and that event. Of course, many things have been noticed, and in terms of the surveillance that's happening and that's what we're doing in Australia as well.
But 17 million doses around the UK as well as right across Europe and no evidence, that's important. We've had, as I said, our ATAGI group, our own expert committee here, which advises the Federal Minister for Health on immunisation matters. They met this morning. So we didn't have to wait for the Europeans to meet tomorrow night. They met this morning and I have already read out their statement that they are very much of the opinion that we should continue, of course, keep watching and seeing what others are learning. But very categorically, no cases of coagulation disorders, which is blood clotting, has been identified following COVID vaccination in Australia, and there are no signals that have been identified in the UK where more than 11 million doses have been administered to date. That's pretty strong evidence, in my view.
Jonathan from Channel 9.
QUESTION:
Chief Medical Officer, thanks very much for your time once again today. Can I just ask you - I know Claire was touching this stockpiling issues with states and the Commonwealth [indistinct] involved in at this stage. Is there any need for anybody to be stockpiling? I mean some states have some concerns that they're not sure, they have no guarantees, when they're getting deliveries. And [indistinct] at this stage, they don't know how much and when they're going to get them. Are states going to have enough continuous supply so that we won't need to stockpile? What's the reason for it?
And secondly, in relation to Papua New Guinea, is the Australian Government going to provide vaccine doses to frontline healthcare workers to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Papua New Guinea? And if so, how many doses do we need to give them to help?
PAUL KELLY:
So, as I said about Papua New Guinea, there will be announcements from the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister in due course about what assistance may be being given or planned to be given to Papua New Guinea. And so, I'll leave it to that time to give the details.
In terms of stockpiling, as I said, we are completely, at the moment, reliant on overseas suppliers. They are uncertain. We've done very well in terms of securing supplies from Pfizer over the last month, and we have all confidence that that will continue. So, as soon as we know when vaccines are arriving, we share that information with the states. As soon as we know the numbers that are arriving, we share those with the states. The Australian Government is stockpiling second doses of Pfizer because it is a two-dose vaccine, and because that second dose has to come about three weeks after the first dose, it is prudent on us to keep some of those doses back so that at least those people that have had one dose will be able to get a second dose. So, we have that strategic reserve at the Commonwealth level. The states and territories all know that. They know exactly what we know and- but it's a very changeable situation. Once we have our sovereign state- stocks available from the CSL supply in Melbourne - and they'll be coming on board very soon - then we will be more certain about the supply and be able to share that with the states as well as with GPs and other providers.
So, there's no secrecy here. We meet to discuss these matters including supply, including the logistics, including vaccine hesitancy, what to do with it, including any side effects that have been noticed in relation to the vaccine. All of these information is shared with the states on, virtually, a daily basis, and at least once a week, we meet with all of the chief health officers and the chief executives of each of the state and territory health departments, as well as health ministers. And so, it's all very open.
I think that's all I have. So thanks very much for coming and keep well. Oh, one more? Yeah.
QUESTION:
How frustrating is it to have senators and members of Parliament like Jim Kelly- Craig Kelly and Pauline Hanson when there is no evidence to suggest that it's causing these blood clots, and yet they're still pushing against it?
PAUL KELLY:
So, I just go back to the point I made in the beginning. I'm the Chief Medical Officer of Australia. I have the ability to see and to look at all of the evidence and to give my opinion to the Australian public, which I've done today. And I'm not alone in my opinion. There's also the ATAGI Group, the TGA, and others in Australia, our experts and our regulator here in Australia as well as internationally. And so, people should listen to the experts rather than those who make other claims.
So, thank you very much.
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