DANICA DE GIORGIO: And for more on the rollout, I'm now joined by the COVID-19 Taskforce Commander, Lieutenant-General, John Frewen. Good morning to you. Thank you very much for joining us. How critical is it to vaccinate this particular cohort?
JOHN FREWEN: Yeah. Look, this is a really important day for the rollout, Danica. This is the last piece of the puzzle if you like. We've been working hard to be ready to, to get 5 to 11-year olds into the, into the queues. We think everything is in place today and we're looking forward to a strong turnout.
DANICA DE GIORGIO: Absolutely. Are there supply issues? Some parents have said that they can't make booking at GP clinics until February.
JOHN FREWEN: Yeah. So look, in terms of the vaccines, we've got the paediatric doses, enough of those to, to get every kid who wants a vaccine through with their first dose before they get back to school. You know, this is a big, complex distribution network but there are- you know, bookings have been open for a month now. If there have been, you know, specific cases where people have found it challenging, then I would say if you can't get in with your primary provider like a GP, then certainly try pharmacists, certainly state and territory clinics will also be ramping up. There are more than 10,000 places for vaccination across the country now, the vast majority of those will be involved in the kid's rollout, and there will be new bookings online every day.
DANICA DE GEORGIO: You mention school. Of course, that resumes in only a matter of a few weeks. There's no way that all of this cohort is going to be vaccinated by then. There's not a lot of time. How many children do you expect would have had their vaccine by then?
JOHN FREWEN: Yeah, look, we're- across the rollout, you know, we're- things are ramping again. We're back up over 1.2 million doses delivered in the last seven days, that's into people's arms. We did get down to around about 500,000 a week. At the height of the rollout we were doing more than 2 million a week, and, and I think we're on track to get back up to those sorts of levels, you know, in the next few weeks. So we think all of those kids- you know, 2.3 million have just become eligible, we'll have the capacity to get all of through with a first dose by the end of the month as long as people turn up, Danica.
DANICA DE GEORGIO: Queensland has already delayed the start of its school term. Are you worried that other states might follow suit in the event that these children can't get vaccinated in time?
JOHN FREWEN: Yeah. Look, that's matters for the states and territories. But in terms of supply, my message to people is: there is- we have the adequate paediatric doses for every kid to get their first dose this month. And again, there are, you know, thousands upon thousands of places where these vaccines will be delivered. If, for whatever reason, your, your initial preference, your GP for example, can't get you in, then please do try the pharmacies, try the state and territory clinics. There are many, many thousands and thousands of Australians getting vaccinated every day and the capacity is there.
DANICA DE GEORGIO: I want to ask you about the booster rollout. The timeframe, of course, was changed to four months between the second and third dose last week. How has that been since?
JOHN FREWEN: [Talks over] Yep. Yeah. So look, the uptake of boosters has been, sort of, pretty remarkable. More than 3.5 million Australians now have had their boosters. We were at about 60 per cent of eligible people had had their boosters. When the additional people came in due to the change to four months, we dropped down to about 30 per cent - that's now already up over 42 per cent. So you know, we're seeing really, really strong days. I think on Friday we had about 270,000 people get vaccines, about 226,000 of those were boosters. Across the weekend we've had 264,000 vaccines delivered [administered], again, about 240,000 of those have been boosters alone. So these are, these are rates that are as strong, if not stronger, than where we were at the height of the vaccine rollout back, back in September/October, and I think we're just going to see those numbers rise. So I'm looking forward to us getting back up to more than 2 million doses a week being delivered.
We're working closely with the states and territories as they're starting to ramp up the state and territory clinics as well in support of the GPs and pharmacists. Pharmacists are doing levels that just- they, they weren't able to deliver early in the program but they're really starting to hit their straps. So I think we're, we're in a, you know, really strong place to get everyone that needs their boosters through as soon as they can after they become eligible, and we're in a great place to get all the kids done this month as well.
DANICA DE GEORGIO: Just finally before we let you go, what's the advice around what booster a person should get? Should you be getting the same that you had, the same vaccine that you had for your first and second dose? Or it doesn't matter? Just whatever is available?
JOHN FREWEN: So look, I should really defer that to the, the medical advice. But really, the mRNA vaccines are the, the predominant recommendation - it doesn't matter which mRNA booster that you get. But there are some specific circumstances that, really, people should consult their health professionals to make sure they've got the best advice, Danica.
DANICA DE GEORGIO: Lieutenant-General John Frewen, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
JOHN FREWEN: Thank you.
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