Chief Midwifery and Nursing Officer, Professor Alison McMillan's interview on 3AW, 24 March 2021

Read the transcript of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Professor Alison McMillan's interview on 3AW on 24 March 2021 about coronavirus (COVID-19).

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ROSS STEVENSON:          

More than 800,000 locally manufactured doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been approved for release to Australians providing a significant boost to the country's rollout effort. Because the bloke from CSL we spoke to the other day, we asked him how many have you made. He didn't know.

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

It's funny. We just wanted to know the process.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Alison McMillan, Federal Government's Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. Alison, good morning to you.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Good morning Ross and Russel.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Do they have- do you just- does the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia get one approval or do you have to make a batch and get every separate batch approved?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Every batch needs to be approved to make sure that of course it's safe and effective for injecting into the community. So, that's a normal process. And as you've just said, their first- more than 830,000 have been approved for distribution.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

So they've already been made. But Alison, that means you've only got 50,200,000 left to make.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

No, we're going to make 50 million. So-

ROSS STEVENSON:          

51, isn't it?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

50 million.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Ah. So you've still got 49 million to go.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

A lot of it is being made as we speak. It gets made and then it gets moved to Parkville where it gets packed and tested. So, each batch as it comes off the distribution will be checked and tested, and then out it will go into trucks across the country.

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

And how- so, how many are there in a batch? So, 800,000's in a batch, I presume?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

No, because the TGA approved a number of batches overnight, but you've asked me a question I don't know the answer to. But we do know the number of batches were approved overnight which came to a total of 832,000.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

So, were they approved because someone runs a test on them and says: yeah, this is the real deal.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

That's right, and it's checked and tested to make sure that it's exactly the same as the specifications of the international AstraZeneca.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Wouldn't it be quicker to have CSL do that test?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

No, because the regulator is the Therapeutics Good Administration here in Australia, and that's an important part of making sure that we keep all Australians safe through an independent testing regime.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

What's taken CSL so long? I first read about the AstraZeneca vaccine in March of last year, and the woman from Oxford University said: we're so confident it's going to work we've already started making it. How come CSL's been so slow?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Well, they haven't been slow. The manufacturer has been underway since we made the contract late last year, and this is not something you can just cook up overnight. It's a very detailed process to make sure that we have now, as we say, these more than 800,000 doses readily made available in Australia for our 1B rollout.

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

So, presumably, there's a random sample that's taken and the TGA just say: yeah, we need to do five of the 100,000, and then you're good to go.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

That's correct. And each batch as it comes off the manufacturing belt will be checked and tested in this way.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Okay. Where's the Pfizer? Where's the 20 million Pfizer we've got a contract for?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

So, the Pfizer already has been rolled out. That was part of the 1A distribution which went predominately to aged care residents, frontline healthcare workers, [inaudible]…

ROSS STEVENSON:          

[Interrupts] But only 400,000 of them, not 20 million of them.

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Well, remember in- we need to continue to get it into the country, but also you need a first and a second dose.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

So, where's the other 19.5 million doses?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

They continue to be rolled out through the 1A. So, most of the supply- we sent it to the states. They're administrating it through their clinics to healthcare workers probably as we speak today, across the hubs in Melbourne and other cities.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

So, how many Pfizer have landed in Australia?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Today I can't tell you that figure, exactly how many Pfizer have landed in Australia. I can tell you that as of today, 832,000 AstraZeneca have come off the belt from Parkville.

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

Alison, we're proud of- proud Melburnians, that CSL's just up the road and we're making it here. Are there any other CSL factories in Australia making AstraZeneca?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

No, it's been made here- made there in Melbourne. It gets made in Broadmeadows and then it's packed in Parkville.

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

Okay, and then of course distributed throughout the country. So- and who's in charge of the distribution?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

So, the distribution is managed through our vaccine operation centre here in Canberra, with partnership with a number of distribution companies including, for instance, Linfox and others. And that's managed through that process. So, those will go out across the country as we speak today and that's quite- as you can imagine, quite complex. And particularly challenging in some parts of eastern Australia with the floods at the moment.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

And how long until every Australian who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated?

ALISON MCMILLAN:      

Okay, so our target is to have everyone who wants to be vaccinated with their first dose by October. That's still on track as we roll out now our home grown AstraZeneca.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

Good on you Alison. Alison McMillan, Federal Government's Chief Nursery and Midwifery- so when is it going to be done by?

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

First dose done by October and I think they're managing expectations on that one, Ross.

ROSS STEVENSON:          

So- [indistinct] two doses?

RUSSEL HOWCROFT:     

Yeah, hopefully it's all done by October.

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