PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well, Australia has surpassed 10 million COVID booster jabs days after the Vaccination Advisory Board announced that from the end of March, three doses will be required to be considered up-to-date. Joining us live now is the COVID Taskforce Commander, Lieutenant General John Frewen. John, good to see you this morning. Thanks for your time.
JOHN FREWEN:
Hey, Peter.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So what do you make of where we're at, and how much further have we got to go?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, so it was a good milestone yesterday. You mentioned we- 10.2 million people have had their boosters now. That's up just shy of 60 per cent of the eligible people, so we've got about 17 million Australians eligible at the moment. So we've got a ways to go but this is progressing at six times the rate of the initial rollout. So the systems are in place, you know, people know what to expect. We had 144,000 people come forward yesterday so I thank all those who have, and I continue to encourage everybody who hasn't come forward yet to please do so.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So just to back that up a little bit. You're saying that this is actually faster than the original rollout?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, it's much faster. So, you know, you'll remember back in those early days we had very different challenges then…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
[Interrupts] Yeah.
JOHN FREWEN:
…we were having to regulate supply. But we've now got, you know, more than 10,000 points of presence across the country. The supply isn't a concern. You know, the people are- the places are much better drilled now at how they, sort of, either book people in…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
[Interrupts] Right.
JOHN FREWEN:
…or they offer the walk ins. So, you know, I think it's as convenient as it ever has been.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Well, we've got these nurses strikes that are taking place in New South Wales today. They say part of their issue at the moment is poor access to boosters. So, are they wrong?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look, I don't think access to boosters right now is a challenge, Peter. We've got many, many, many pathways to vaccinations. There is GPs and pharmacists, there are Commonwealth clinics. We are doing in-reach into various facilities such as aged care and we've now got more than 80 per cent of the eligible residents of aged care have had their boosters. So, you know, I know those workforces have been under great pressure and it's been a long two years for many of them and I both respect the work that they've done and the challenges they face, but access to boosters right now is not a key problem.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. And, yeah, you just mentioned there the aged care residents, getting them boosted, now up to 85 per cent. What issues are you still facing on that front?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah, so look, with aged care, we've- over the course of January [audio skip] visit. so we've now done visits to more than 400 facilities on a second round and we're prioritising those now that have got the larger number of residents who are eligible. But also for those facilities, there is, you know, multiple options where we're doing in-reach, where that's what the facilities prefer. Some facilities are vaccinating themselves, others have got an arrangement with local GPs for example. So it's progressing very solidly at the moment. Now, I was in an aged care facility yesterday, it's a facility that is in a really good place. They've had a very good experience with the rollout. They've had a small outbreak that they've managed, they haven't got the sort of workforce challenges that I know other places have. So it's a mixed bag out there but across the board we've been prioritising our most vulnerable and we've got the numbers up in aged care now, so that's pleasing.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Are you getting much resistance though from some people in aged care?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look, it's- the facilities themselves- probably the- one of the tricky things has been just getting the scheduling right because, of course, we had the ATAGI change to advice on Christmas Eve, and a tricky time for anybody, but…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
[Interrupts] Yeah.
JOHN FREWEN:
…so we worked with a lot of the facilities to bring forward appointments from February, in many cases into January. There were a lot of pressures around Omicron and Omicron hitting workforces, and there was distribution of the rapid antigen tests at the same time as we were working to distribute vaccines. But all of our teams, distribution teams, our operations people, they've worked, you know, amazingly well to get those first rounds done. Now we're getting to the second rounds. Now, as to uptake, there's, you know, a whole range of personal circumstances about why people may or may not choose to have a booster as there is for the primary courses. But I think now on balance, you know, with more than 80 per cent of uptake of those eligible residents, we're going to get those numbers back up into the, sort of, 90 percentiles as quickly as we can.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah. Okay, we're just seeing a banner there on the bottom of our screen there. 95 per cent of Australians over 16 now double-dosed - incredibly high number. Now we've got Novavax here, how much further can you go?
JOHN FREWEN:
So, you know, the Novavax, it's a protein based vaccine. That is a point of difference and I know there are people who have been waiting for that. We've had around 3500 points of distribution have shown an interest in having Novavax. We've now got orders from more than 2000. We've started the distribution; the first doses have started to go into arms. Those people have spoken very specifically about waiting for this protein based vaccine. Now, we think it could be a per cent, you know, if it's really, really good it might be two per cent, but it's another choice for people. It's good to have another vaccine available for those people who just haven't felt comfortable so far, and I do really encourage those people to consider Novavax if that's either what they've been waiting for or they just haven't quite been able to land on a vaccine just yet. Good, effective vaccine. At the moment, it's only for primary dose but Novavax are working through the process to have it approved as a booster as well which would be good. I'd like to add that one to the inventory as a choice for people to get their boosters as well.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Lieutenant General John Frewen, the COVID Taskforce Commander, appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for joining us.
JOHN FREWEN:
Thanks, Peter.
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