KARL STEFANOVIC:
A bleak prediction for hospitals this morning, with the system already at full stretch. COVID cases are facing an influx when lockdowns are eased.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, joins us now in Canberra. Thanks for your time this morning, professor. When restrictions ease at the- start to ease at the 70 per cent vaccination rates, do you think our hospital systems going to be able to cope with that?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Well, it's a really good question, Ally. And obviously, one of the main things that we've been focusing on throughout the pandemic is making sure that our healthcare system does not get overwhelmed. We saw this happening in other countries [audio skip], with those reports from northern Italy in March last year, with people being turned away from hospital, people being denied access to ventilators and, of course we don't want to see that happening within Australia.
We have, throughout the pandemic, been building up our capacity in intensive care units. We've been building up our capacity with the number of ventilators that we have available. But most importantly, we have a very strong workforce of doctors, and nurses, and other healthcare professionals who can provide excellent support to people if they're needed- if they need to, our people who are in intensive care.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
So, New South Wales Premier is warning October will be the worst month for hospitalisations. Do we have enough for no matter what the eventuality is there?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Well, this is why it is so important that we are doing all that we can, each of us, to keep numbers of new cases of COVID-19 as low as we can, and that's through following the public health restrictions which are in place, and at the same time vaccinating as many people as we possibly can right across Australia. We're now seeing record numbers of people being vaccinated against COVID-19. Very importantly, right from the outset of the vaccination program, we've been prioritising those people who are most at risk of becoming seriously unwell if they were infected with COVID-19. This is why we're seeing so few cases among people in residential aged care at the moment, compared to this time last year.
ALLISON LANGDON:
What we are, though, seeing now is, of course, infections at the other end of the scale. I think it was a third of all new COVID cases in New South Wales this week are kids. No one in ICU at this point. But do you think that could change if case numbers continue to rise?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Well fortunately COVID-19, even with this Delta variant, still appears to be a much milder condition in most children who are infected. But you're right, we're seeing more children being infected, this is particularly because of how transmissible the Delta variant is, and the transmission occurring in households. If one member of a household gets infected, it tends to be that everybody in the household gets infected. Of course, we don't have vaccines available anywhere in the world at the moment for children under the age of 12. The most important thing that we can do to protect the children of Australia is to get vaccinated; to protect ourselves, and by doing so we protect the members of our families as well; and, by adhering to the restrictions which are in place.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I mean, you look at what's happening in Victoria and New South Wales now, and they've obviously, you know, accepted the fact that, particularly in New South Wales, that they're not going to get complete control over those numbers. What is it, 17,000 or so active cases now in New South Wales? I mean, even doing the contact tracing on that, they're seven days behind, so it's incredibly difficult. But, you're going to have states in New South Wales and Victoria like that. But then Queensland will have none. At some point, everyone says they'll get it. They'll have to go through that, but that'll be months away. So you're going to have states behind other states. And, I mean, what a mess.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Well, this is why the vaccination program is so important in all parts of the country. We're still seeing a little bit of vaccine hesitancy in some parts of the country. It's really important that people get vaccinated. The vaccines of course are available in over 6000 sites right across Australia. Yesterday we opened up the Pfizer vaccine to everyone aged between 16 to 39. A huge level of enthusiasm amongst that age group to get vaccinated. Lots of people are not able to get appointments just at the moment. If you can't get an appointment today, please wait a week. Appointments will become available over the coming weeks.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
But they're not having it in, in places like the south west of Sydney. I mean, we had the Mayor on before and they said, they're reluctant to get it. And we know that's- what is it, down to 40 per cent there, tops. And then you've got Queensland who are lagging behind, and now some parts of Victoria as well. These are places that do need to have it.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. Absolutely. So we need high vaccination rates in all parts of the country. Fortunately, again we've seen very high levels of vaccination amongst some of the people who are most at risk. We now have over 87 per cent of people aged 70 and above who have received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. So, that's great. But, you know, we have still got another 13 per cent of people aged over 70 who we need to get vaccinated, and of course, many other people right across the community.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Yeah. There's still a whole lot of people who do want it but can't get access to it at this point.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Big job. Big job.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Professor, thank you for your time. We always appreciate it.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Thanks, Professor.
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