MICHAEL KIDD:
Good afternoon. My name is Professor Michael Kidd, Deputy Chief Medical Officer with the Australian Government Department of Health. I'd like to start with a big thank you to everybody who is currently in lockdown in Australia. I understand how hard the past weeks and months have been for everybody. Thank you for all that you are doing to control the current outbreaks of COVID-19 in our country, and all that you're doing to protect the health and wellbeing of everybody in Australia.
In the past 24 hours, we've had 1133 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. This includes seven overseas acquired cases. Of the locally acquired cases, 1035 were in New South Wales, 64 in Victoria. 26 in the ACT, and one in Queensland. Sadly, there have been two more COVID-19 related deaths officially reported by New South Wales in the past 24 hours. Globally, there are over 835,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours and over 11,500 deaths. COVID-19 has now infected over 215 million people around the world and resulted in over 4.4 million deaths.
As of midnight last night, 18.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Australia. We had a record 316,000 doses administered yesterday, Friday. More than a third of people aged 16 years and over in Australia are now vaccinated, 33.71 per cent of people aged 16 and above have received both doses, and 56.86 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Over 11.7 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and that means we only have another 2.8 million first doses to get to 70 per cent or 14.5 million people who've been vaccinated with the first dose, and less than 4.8 million doses, first doses, to get to 80 per cent or 16.5 million people. We know that those who come in for their first dose also come in for their second dose. So please keep rolling up your sleeves. In the past week, almost 1.9 million vaccine doses have been delivered in Australia, 1,891,529, to be exact and 2.8 million people have been vaccinated in the past ten days. Importantly, 86.92 per cent of people in Australia aged 70 and above have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 61.68 per cent of those aged 70 and above are now fully vaccinated. In New South Wales, 89 per cent of those age 70 and above have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As you know, from September 13, all children aged between 12 and 15 years will be able to book a COVID-19 Pfizer appointment. And this follows a review of the Pfizer vaccine for use in children aged 12 to 15 by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, ATAGI. Since the 9th of August, children aged between 12 to 15 who are immunocompromised or have serious chronic health conditions, who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or who live in remote communities, have been eligible for the Pfizer vaccine and all children who are participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme have also been eligible since August 25. Bookings for children aged 12 to 15 will be available through general practises, through our Commonwealth vaccination clinics and through Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations. And in addition, each state and territory will be advising when their state vaccination clinics will open up to this group. It's expected that all children, 12 to 18 years of age, will have access to a vaccine during the rest of 2021. ATAGI anticipates vaccinating this group of children will contribute to reduced COVID-19 transmission in the broader population. We know that once a large proportion of Australia's adult population is vaccinated, susceptible children and adolescents will account for a higher proportion of continued infections in the community contributing to transmission. The Delta variant has demonstrated increased transmissibility across all ages, and it's associated with an increased risk of unvaccinated adolescents developing COVID-19 because of the household transmission that we're seeing. Although the severity of COVID-19 is less among adolescents compared with adults, infection rates among adolescents and adults do now appear to be similar. ATAGI has also noted that potential new variants of concern may also pose a greater risk to non-immune children and adolescents in the future and ATAGI has noted that vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds would deliver additional benefits through reduced disruption to schooling, sports and other organised activities.
The Coordinator-General of Operation COVID Shield, Lieutenant General John Frewen, has been working with the Commonwealth, and with states and territories, on coordinating an approach for this age group. While supporting those jurisdictions wishing to undertake a school-based vaccination programme later in the year. Parents will be able to check the COVID-19 eligibility checker on the Department of Health website from September 13 to make a booking for their child's vaccination. And if you wish, you can get your child vaccinated through general practise or other sites if you don't wish to wait for a school-based programme. The Therapeutic Goods Administration is also currently considering the use of the Moderna vaccine in those aged 12 to 17 as a priority, with a decision expected within the next two weeks.
As you may know, from this Monday, 30 August, millions of additional Australians, those aged 16 to 39, will be eligible to start receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and I encourage everyone in this age group to make a booking and to get vaccinated. More and more general practitioners will be provided with access to the Pfizer vaccine throughout September. General practitioners will continue to prioritise vaccines to those most at risk, including aged and disability care workers, people with disability, the elderly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, pregnant women, and those with serious underlying medical conditions. So, I do urge you to be patient. And if you can't make a booking straight away, please try again in a week or so. This will assist our nation's GP's to manage their vaccine bookings, while at the same time, they're also continuing to provide other vital health services to the community. I'm happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
The situation in Wilcannia seems to be escalating. There's nearly 60 active cases out there now, which on some counts is a little bit less than 10 per cent of the population. It's a largely Indigenous community as well. How concerning is that to you?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. So obviously, we're very concerned about the outbreaks that we've seen in Aboriginal communities in western New South Wales and in the Far West, including Wilcannia and this is why the Commonwealth has been very active in working with Indigenous leaders and with the local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to boost the vaccination programs, to boost testing capacity. We now have Australian Defence Force personnel involved in vaccination in the region. We have an AUSMAT team, which is also helping in going door to door, offering vaccinations and of course, we also have the Royal Flying Doctor Service offering vaccinations through clinics to very small and very remote communities. And of course, also being available to provide retrieval if we have people who become seriously unwell.
QUESTION:
Where would they be transferred to? Of course, there's no I don't think there's a hospital in Wilcannia. There's certainly no ventilation capacity out there. What's the plan if that situation does worsen significantly?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Thank you. So, transfers will obviously be coordinated through the Royal Flying Doctor Service with the various hospitals, depending on the condition of the person who requires transfer. So, whether people end up going to Broken Hill or Dubbo, to Adelaide, or to Sydney will depend on the individual circumstances. I have Simon on the phone.
QUESTION:
Yes. Good afternoon, Professor Kidd. The Victorian Health Minister has been very critical this morning of the Commonwealth not paying the fees required of GPs to work on weekends and their medical staff to try and boost the vaccination rates in Victoria. Has the Commonwealth had any consideration of paying, of helping out those GPs paying that gap? And, I guess, what's your response to the Health Minister in Victoria?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Thank you. So, the provision of the vaccines through general practise is through the Medicare benefits schedule, and payments are available on any day of the week. So, payments are being made every day of the week. We have many, many general practises which are choosing to be open on weekends to maximise the opportunities for the people in their local area to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Thanks, Simon.
QUESTION:
But some of those GP's are saying that the Commonwealth is not paying the extra money that's required to pay penalty rates and weekend rates. What would be your response to that?
MICHAEL KIDD:
So the payments are being made as a whole through the Medicare benefits schedule, and that has been designed in consultation with the peak organisations, the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and others to meet the costs of delivering the vaccines to the people of Australia through the National COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
QUESTION:
What role do you see booster shots playing in the Australian vaccine rollout, and when do you anticipate that Australia will get to that third dose stage?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes, thank you. So we're watching very closely to see what's happening with the introduction of third doses, booster doses, in countries overseas, and also watching very closely on the- with the research, seeing how long protection is lasting for people who've been fully vaccinated with the current vaccines available for COVID-19, and also seeing who and when people are starting to get waning in their immunity. At the moment, we're not planning booster doses in Australia. We're planning to continue rolling out the vaccine to the entire population, as you know, during this year but we have made provision in our forward, or advance purchases of vaccines to have booster doses available for the population should they be required next year. This, of course, is a continuing moving environment with the potential for additional new variants to appear, which may have an impact on the effectiveness of the vaccines that we currently have available. So, it's something that we're monitoring very, very closely.
QUESTION:
What will the eligibility criteria be for the Moderna vaccine when it begins to be distributed next month?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Thank you. So, at the moment the Therapeutic Goods Administration has provided approval for the Moderna vaccine for those aged 18 years and above. We're waiting for a determination, as I mentioned, for those aged between 12 and 17.
QUESTION:
But in terms of the rollout- obviously, Pfizer is only available to those under 60 at this point. Will Moderna, being an mRNA vaccine, be distributed the same way?
MICHAEL KIDD:
So, the actual distribution of the Moderna vaccine is still being determined. We're still working with ATAGI on whether they're going to be a particular priority populations and will get their results- the results of their deliberations soon.
Thank you, everybody, and thank you to our interpreters.