NEIL MITCHELL:
Now, good news. I think it's good news, the vaccine rollout, the targets are getting closer. Victoria is due to hit 70 per cent of the eligible population, having at least one shot on September the 19th, that's a Sunday, two weeks a day- two weeks away. It's come back four days from the initial plan. Now, when that happens, we'll be able to release restrictions very little, but it's a sign. The 5K limit goes to 10, the two hour daily exercise cap increases to three, outdoor personal training allowed for up to two people. And that's good. Any change is good. The point is we're coming forward. We are meeting targets. We're due to hit 70 per cent of the eligible population across Australia to be fully vaccinated on November 5th, three days before the Melbourne Cup. We're due to hit 80 per cent of the eligible population on November 23rd. That's the big one, when lockdowns or broad lockdowns should be a thing of the past, you might get international travel. So the date we're targeting the moment is Tuesday, November 23rd. And the way things are going, it could come forward. It could come forward if you get out and get vaccinated.
On the line, and this is the good news, I recorded earlier an interview with Lieutenant General John Frewen, who is coordinator of the National COVID Vaccine Taskforce, the man in charge of getting it out there and into your arms. Lieutenant General John Frewen.
JOHN FREWEN:
Hi, Neil. Great to be with you.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yeah, thanks for your time. So actually, how much has landed in the past couple of days? How much extra vaccine has come into the country?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, so look, we've got an additional couple of hundred thousand landed last night. But we'll get another flight in a couple of days, and then we'll have two flights every week over the next four weeks coming in from the UK. That- this additional 4 million is a really welcome addition to the program.
NEIL MITCHELL:
What happens to 200,000 that came in last night? Two or 300,000? What happens to that?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So they go through testing now, sort of, brief testing period, and then we hope to have them rolling out into people's arms by the end of the week.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Victoria has said they're likely to get more. Where is that coming from? When will it come to Victoria?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. Well, no, this stuff will immediately get broken up and be distributed equitably around the countryside. So really now with this, the additional dosage we got from Singapore, with this 4 million, you know, we'll have twice the amounts of mRNA vaccines that we thought we'd have this month. It looks a bit more like we thought October was going to look now. So we'll get it moving as fast as we can.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Victoria's started its school rollout as of today. When will the extra Pfizer come to Victoria?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yes, so there'll be- this additional stuff will start rolling out later this week. We've also got Moderna turning up in the next couple of weeks now, Neil, and if your listeners sort of appreciate, but that's another mRNA vaccine. And we're going to be putting that through the pharmacy network. So people will now be able to access either AstraZeneca, Pfizer through the GP networks and state hubs or AstraZeneca or Moderna through the pharmacy networks.
NEIL MITCHELL:
There's been a delay in the Moderna though, hasn't it?
JOHN FREWEN:
No, we're expecting it in the next week or so. We'll have it ready for roll out from around about the 20th at this stage.
NEIL MITCHELL:
If you do- we last spoke on the 11th of August. I've been doing the figures since. And all the, you know, we had a million from- a million Pfizer from Poland, and 4 million from the UK and Singapore, et cetera. 5.5 million extra doses. Does that mean we will hit our targets quicker, do you think?
JOHN FREWEN:
Potentially we can, Neil. Because what we've got now is we've got the supply in place. We've now got about 9400 distribution points around the countryside and we're hoping to bring that up over more than 10,000 in the next couple of weeks. So supply and distribution are not the key challenge now, the key challenge is really about the willingness of people to come forward. So, it's just really important now that we keep urging people to, if they haven't made a booking, to get a booking in the system. And if they've had their first dose to get their second dose now. It really now comes down to public willingness to get vaccinated.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yeah, I've discussed this with a number epidemiologists who talk about sort of an unwilling rump, they say could be as high as 20 per cent. What are your estimates?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So when- the numbers are pretty encouraging at the moment. That we've got around about 80 per cent of people saying they intend to get vaccinated, we've got probably another around about 15 per cent saying that they're still making up their minds. Now, those numbers at face value are very encouraging. But really, we've just got to turn those into bookings and then into vaccination.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So sorry, we've got 80 per cent who said, yes, we'll do it, and another 15 per cent of the remaining 20 saying that they're considering it.
JOHN FREWEN:
Around about 14 or 15, yeah. So the numbers of those who've been saying that they won't have been consistently low recently, around about that five or six per cent sort of level. But again, I'm not sort of cashing that until we've actually got people in the system and jabs into their arm. So we've got every opportunity to get up into really high levels of vaccination. I think we've got a really great chance to do that this year. But we've just got to keep encouraging people to get it done.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Well, when you look at that figures, you'd be hopeful, hopeful of something over 90 per cent.
JOHN FREWEN:
I'm- [indistinct] the numbers say you can. It's really about the people doing it. So just got to keep reinforcing to everybody the importance and the urgency. I mean, we've seen now with these outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne and what's going on in western New South Wales, that there just isn't time for complacency now. Everything's in place. But we've just got to hit it with urgency now, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Well, September's going to be a key month, isn't it? How many vaccines do you aim to get out in September, into arms in September?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, well, we've been cresting just shy of 2 million a week. So we're going to have around about 0million doses available this month. But if we can get anything north of 8 million, I think that'll be a fantastic month, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Will that be our biggest month or do you still head into October with higher targets?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look, well, it could be September or October. It really just depends. But September now really is going to be looking hopefully like what we thought October would be previously. So hopefully now with all this new stuff arriving, if we get the word out to people then people will get along quickly.
Now, we've got- we're opening up to 12 to 15 year olds from next Monday. Now, that's really important as well and those kids now can get both mRNA - Pfizer and Moderna. So there's good opportunities there, so hopefully we'll see another little, sort of, spike in bookings coming into the system for those folks. So, everything's in place now, we've just got to get people there.
NEIL MITCHELL:
And where will the 12 to 15 year olds get those? Will they have to go to the pharmacies or the GPs, or where do they get them?
JOHN FREWEN:
Well, they can go through any of the available networks at the moment. So there is- there's GPs right now, pharmacies will have the Moderna in a couple of weeks, they can get to state hubs in some locations, and there's also going to be some more bespoke opportunities made available for school kids, whether that's, you know, run by the schools, getting them to hubs, or in some cases, there'll be vaccinations in schools themselves. So, lots of potential pathways. From here on in, I just hope to bring increasingly more convenience to people so that that isn't a factor that delays them from getting vaccinated.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Will the 12 to 15 year olds need parental permission?
JOHN FREWEN:
Absolutely. Yeah, so there's a [indistinct] process.
NEIL MITCHELL:
[Interrupts] What, in writing? I see. They have to fill out a form or it's in writing, how does it work?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, there's- well that, we're just working through with the states and territories now, because each of them will have slightly different requirements. But we're just making sure all of that will be in place. The bookings will start from next Monday and then we've got, by the time people are getting ready to turn up for appointments, we'll have all that squared away, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Are there any more vaccine swap deals in the pipeline?
JOHN FREWEN:
Oh, look, I think the Government's been working really, really hard on this. I think where we are right now, I'm very happy with the amount of supply we've got coming this month. I think we've- we know we've already got really strong flows coming through October now. I think right now, for me, Neil, it's just about getting people to turn up. We've got- there are some concerns about hesitancy in places around the countryside. So we're going to be working really hard now just to make sure that people have got the right information and that people are making a good, well-informed choice.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Where are those concerns? What areas?
JOHN FREWEN:
Well, look, the rollout now, the Government said they need 70 and 80 per cent, both nationally, 70 and 80 per cent by each state and territory. But, you know, we can already look down into the jurisdictions and find pockets. Now, whether they're areas where there might be, you know, some cultural issues or there might be very, you know, remote communities, that's the sort of priority we're giving now to where the messaging needs to get to make sure that everybody is coming along and everybody's taking the opportunity to get vaccinated.
NEIL MITCHELL:
It does sound, the way you're speaking, as if supply is no longer an issue, supply is no longer a problem? Is that right?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. No look, with this 4 million coming in from the UK and with the Moderna coming in now, Neil, I think supply is not our pre-eminent concern. now It really is about public willingness to get vaccinated.
NEIL MITCHELL:
And is there any discussion yet about a booster program, getting ready for a booster?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So the Health Department and ATAGI and others, are still sort of finalising the science and around how the booster program will be approached in this country. But we already will have adequate mRNA vaccines towards the end of this year for if and when a program commences this year and the Government's already got in place orders for additional mRNA vaccines through both next year and the year after, to make sure that there's a booster program ready to roll. And we're putting in place things now, Neil, to make sure there's a clean transition from vaccine rollout writ large into a more business as usual rolling, a booster program [indistinct].
NEIL MITCHELL:
[Interrupts] You mentioned mRNA, of course, there's plenty of AstraZeneca still, is there not?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, yeah, no, there's still plenty of AstraZeneca. It's still going strong. Since the second ATAGI ruling, there's been more than 6 million doses have gone into Australian's arms and there will still be people who are turning up and availing themselves of AstraZeneca. Of course, we've still got people who need to get their second dose of AstraZeneca, and I of course, encourage them to do that. You know, I think, you know, it's still- it's an extremely effective vaccine. We're moving it out into the Pacific still. We're working closely with our colleagues at Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to make sure we're also getting as much vaccine out into the near Pacific as well, which is really important.
NEIL MITCHELL:
And how much is CSL producing a week now?
JOHN FREWEN:
CSL have been doing round about a million a week, but there's ups and overs week in, week out. So, they've been doing a great job, though.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Good to speak to you. Thank you very much. You're winning then. Bottom line, you're winning, [indistinct]?
JOHN FREWEN:
You too, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Do you think you're winning?
JOHN FREWEN:
Neil, we're getting there. It's important business. And again, I just encourage the public, if you haven't done yet, get your bookings in. The supply is there now and do it with urgency. We can't be complacent around this thing. It can rise up quickly, and the best way to be ready now is to get the population vaccinated.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Couldn't agree more. Thank you very much for your time.
JOHN FREWEN:
Thanks, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Lieutenant General John Frewen.
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