Get ready for Delta: AMA

Masks and social distancing should be universal, not just in areas with transmission, the doctor group says.

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As the national vaccine rollout extends to teens, the AMA says even states living with no community covid transmission should still have mandated mask wearing, social distancing and limited venue capacities.

AMA vice president Dr Chris Moy told TMR that since the Delta strain was so highly transmissible, pre-emptive measures should be taken in every jurisdiction to anticipate its arrival and spread.

“There may be states that don’t have covid at the moment but the bottom line is that they really need to have a ready stance for it, which means having some level of restrictions, like mask wearing and density limits,” he said.

“It means that when Delta does come in, they’ll have the best chance of actually being able to knock it out with their hard and fast lockdowns.”

The AMA is calling on the federal government to take the lead on introducing these national “sensible restrictions” as soon as possible.

These measures need to be in place until at least the end of the year, the AMA said, and until such time, Australians should keep coming forward to be vaccinated. 

Dr Moy said recent events in Sydney had highlighted that sound public health measures could allow economic freedoms to thrive much sooner, too.

“Being ready, and then going hard and fast when Delta comes has proven itself to be the only way to best protect the health of the community and the economy,” he said.

Introducing nationwide public health orders, especially in areas who were currently living covid free, could come with its own political and enforcement challenges.

But politically, governments are damned either way. The resentment of restrictions in sections of the media and the public sits alongside anger at the NSW government for delaying harsher measures.

“With Delta, there’s no way you can have full stadiums at the moment with no risk and yet we’re talking about things like having [football] grand finals coming up where there will be incredible pressure on certain states to have a full stadium – but the risk is so high,” Dr Moy said.

Yesterday, after finally having some certainty around adequate mRNA vaccine supplies, Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised that younger patients would finally be eligible for Pfizer vaccines.

Following Thursday’s National Cabinet meeting, Mr Morrison announced at a press conference that Pfizer vaccines would be made available to those aged 16 to 39 from 30 August.

“That’s some 8.6 million Australians that are in that group – 1.2 million between the ages of 16 and 18, I understand, and between 19 and 39, yeah, there’s about 7.4 million,” he said.

The announcement may come as a relief to some general practices, who had called out the current approach of reserving Pfizer vaccines for those aged 40-49 as being paradoxical and an additional administrative burden.

Since younger people were already coming forward for vaccination, it no longer made sense to restrict Pfizer access exclusively to those over 40.

Health Minister Greg Hunt, also speaking at the press conference on Thursday evening, said that vaccination had already been opened up to younger children aged 12-15 who had an underlying health condition, but that discussions were under way about broadening the rollout further.

“ATAGI has been meeting this week to consider the international evidence. We already have TGA approval, and if they provide that advice … we have the vaccines to cover children,” he said.

To head off a virtual stampede for appointments, Mr Morrison warned Australians in that 16-39 age group not to attempt to make a vaccine booking for Pfizer until the government decided to give the green light.

“We will advise when bookings can be made. It’s not today, not today,” he said. “We will advise of when that time will come over the course of the next week.”

His calls were soon echoed by RACGP president Dr Karen Price who pleaded with younger patients, who didn’t already have an AstraZeneca vaccine appointment, to avoid contacting their GP about booking a Pfizer jab.

“I want to avoid a repeat of previous occasions this year when practices were inundated with calls and receptionists bore the brunt of frustrated patients,” she said in a media statement. “We want this to be an easy process for both them and you.”

In the leadup to the expansion of the Pfizer rollout for younger Australians, Dr Price said general practices would be working hard to respond to the latest changes and ready their practices.

“So, sit tight for now, the government will advise soon when the time will come to book a jab,” she said.

In other developments to the vaccination rollout, all healthcare workers in NSW will now have to comply with a mandatory covid vaccination order.

Under the new health order, which is to be signed in the coming days, covid vaccination will become mandatory for all health workers in NSW, with a first dose required by a deadline of September 30.

The decision follows a spate of covid transmission in the states hospital system, with at least one transmission event occurring every day for the past two weeks.