KARL STEFANOVIC:
Well, major changes to Australia's booster rollout today, with 16 million Aussies now eligible to receive the third jab three months after their second shot.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Lieutenant General John Frewen heads the COVID Vaccination Taskforce, and he joins us now live from Canberra. Lieutenant-General, thanks for your time this morning. Booster wait times slashed to three months from today.
JOHN FREWEN:
[Talks over] [Indistinct]
ALLISON LANGDON:
What difference is that going to make?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So look, another important day for the rollout, Ally. There's now more than 7.7 million Australians who've come forward to have their boosters - that's just shy of 70 per cent. But today the eligibility opens up to another, around about, 4.5 million Australians who can come forward immediately now and get their boosters, and there's plenty of opportunities out there to do that straight away.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You can't have been stronger in the messaging around vaccinations and the booster shot, and I think we've had something like 700 deaths since the start of the year. You must feel that pretty keenly?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. Look, I've been working this COVID space since the beginning, Karl. You know, it's a very dangerous pandemic - vaccination has been a really important part of helping keep Australians safe. And now we're in a position where we've got absolutely more than enough vaccines; we've got more than 10,000 distribution points across the country; there is every opportunity for people to get vaccinations. It's very simple now, there are walk in opportunities around the country every day now. So again, it's really just about people making that choice, taking the time to get in and get vaccinated - but it is really important.
And boosters, absolutely essential. And real- people really shouldn't be thinking that they should get around to it - they should do it as quickly as they can.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Okay. So, we keep hearing that boosters are readily available. If we look in New South Wales there's, what? A record 52 deaths yesterday, 31 are in aged care homes, and just two of those had had a booster. So, is- aged care facilities, are they not be prioritised? Is it that the elderly are not wanting their booster shot? Why is it that that number seems to be so low?
JOHN FREWEN:
Yeah. So, aged care facilities have absolutely been a priority for us throughout the pandemic, Allie, and we've been working hard to get boosters to every aged care facility throughout January. As of today, we know 91 per cent of facilities have had a booster visit. We think about 99 per cent of them have been done, we're just waiting an absolute confirmation that those visits were done last week.
But again, this is about choice, and in aged care facilities it is also about consent in some circumstances. But we're providing the opportunities for people to take up the boosters. And again, it's just- we've got to constantly reinforce the message of how important it is.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Look, we had a medical authority from the UK on the program earlier, talking about school and back to school and what effect it had in the UK. I think only 10 per cent of kids have been vaccinated there. I mean this, this is incredibly important, if we're going to keep the numbers down, to have kids vaccinated. Do you think it could have been better? This rollout with kids?
JOHN FREWEN:
Look, our rollout with kids - we've done 40 per cent of our kids in just on three weeks. That's faster than the US, Germany and Israel. so we think the uptake has been fantastic. Of course, there have been more opportunities for people to get through. I know parents are busy in those weeks coming back to school, you know, getting new shoes and all of those other things that have to be done. But, 40 per cent of kids in three weeks, I think, has been a great uptake. There are still opportunities. Some of the states will be looking at opportunities to get things done in and around schools as well.
So again, it's an important layer in the protection for kids, but there is also COVID-safe practices, and adequate ventilation, and we're hearing the plans from the various state school systems about how they intend to do that. But absolutely, again, the vaccines are there and parents can get that done most days.
ALLISON LANGDON:
So you think it's more that the parents are a bit busy at this time of the year? As opposed to a reluctance to vaccinate their kids?
JOHN FREWEN:
Oh look, there's a multitude of factors in why people do or don't come forward for vaccines, Ally. But, you know, we've been saying for a while now, we've aimed to bring maximum convenience into play with vaccines and vaccination.
And, you know, the kids are a bit different. A lot of parents I know do prefer to go to GPs, and GPs have been working hard, and they've done the majority of kids. But there are- you know, pharmacists have also been doing kids, state hubs have also been doing kids. So- and there have been parents that have taken up those opportunities. But I do know some parents prefer to wait until they can get to their own GP to have it done.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Lieutenant General, good to talk to you. Thanks for your time on this Monday morning.
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