And study suggests prior influenza vaccination associated with reduced COVID-19 risk.
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24 February
- Two elderly Australians given excess dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
- Association between prior influenza vaccination and lower COVID-19 risk.
- Death rates back to average in Australia but respiratory deaths still way down.
- Latest confirmed COVID-19 infection numbers from around Australia.
Two elderly individuals were given significantly higher doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at a clinic in Queensland, but so far appear to have suffered no serious adverse effects from the accident.
The pair were believed to have been given four times the usual dose of the vaccine. The GP who administered the doses has since been stood down and been reported to AHPRA, according to ABC News, and the patients in question are being monitored closely.
However Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told the ABC that the early clinical trials of the vaccine involved different doses, including doses as high as those given to the two patients, and side effects were not an issue in those studies.
AAP reports that the doctor was employed by Healthcare Australia.
UPDATE: Health Minister Greg Hunt told parliament this afternoon that the doctor had not completed the mandatory vaccination training.
A study has found an association between prior influenza vaccination and a reduced likelihood of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 or being hospitalised with COVID-19.
A paper published in the American Journal of Infection Control reported the outcomes of a retrospective cohort study of 27,201 individuals who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 in Michigan, US, 4.5% of whom tested positive.
Those who had been vaccinated against influenza during the prior season had a significantly 18% lower odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, and this remained significant even after adjusting for demographic factors and comorbidities.
The study also found vaccinated individuals had a 42% lower odds of hospitalisation, 55% lower odds of needing ventilation if they were hospitalised, and also a shorter length of stay in hospital. However there were no significant differences in mortality rates.
“The results of our study indicate that influenza vaccination presents no harmful effect on COVID-19 susceptibility or increased disease severity, and points to a possible association between the vaccine and decreased risk of COVID-19 and improved clinical outcomes,” the authors wrote.
They speculated that there were possible immunological mechanisms that might explain the association, but also said it could be the result of social and demographic confounding mechanisms.
Death rates in Australia largely returned to normal by late 2020, after some major fluctuations throughout the year, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
During late March and early April 2020, there were 933 more doctor-certified deaths than the average of the same period from 2015-2019, but death rates then dropped below the historical average from mid-May to the end of October. However during the first three weeks of November, death rates were once again in line with five-year historical averages.
However some interesting patterns emerge for specific causes of death. For example, deaths from ischaemic heart disease have been below average since mid-May, and in some cases below even the lowest figures recorded in the past five years.
Deaths from respiratory diseases have been significantly lower than historical averages, and around mid-October respiratory deaths were almost half the historical average. Deaths from pneumonia in particular – including influenza – have been substantially lower for the second half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2015-2019.
Death rates from cancer, diabetes and dementia are on par with those seen in the past five years.
Here are the latest confirmed COVID-19 infection numbers from around Australia to 9pm Tuesday:
National – 28,937 with 909 deaths
ACT – 118 (0)
NSW – 5154 (4)
NT – 104 (0)
QLD – 1323 (0)
SA – 612 (2)
TAS – 234 (0)
VIC – 20,479 (0)
WA – 913 (1)
