Weighing up AZ for under-40s

1 minute read

covid vaccine podcast The Back Page

By

Felicity Nelson

It’s not just you, everyone is finding the AZ question hard. Here’s why.

We’ve all witnessed explosive differences in opinion over whether under-40s should be offered the AstraZeneca jab.

This episode, epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz explains why there are no easy answers.

A week since the Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened the floodgates for under-40s to inquire with their GP about the AstraZeneca vaccine, federal and state governments have been at odds, GPs have been divided and younger patients are left not knowing what to think.

But, looking at the Australian Government’s own modelling, you can see why everyone is having such a hard time with this.

The current ATAGI recommendation to not vaccinate under-40s with AstraZeneca is based on a low community transmission risk of covid.

But when we open the international borders, all those numbers change…

You can listen and subscribe to the show by searching for “The Tea Room Medical Republic” in your favourite podcast player.

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Leonie Nulsen
Leonie Nulsen
3 years ago

Thanks for the topic.
Need to accentuate 3 points-
1. How many young people are an acceptable number to die or suffer permanent disability from AZ vaccination?
We might get away with it but we might not- as government indemnity for disability support post vacc confirms.
2. We won’t get back to ‘normal life’ by this sacrifice. Even at 75% population vaccinated, we will be living with Covid. Meaning mask wearing in high risk circumstances/ travel restrictions overseas/ social distancing etc.
Normal life will come when entire planet at herd immunity and new variants less likely / or virus has mutated to be less severe and co exist with us!!! How long has it taken for current flu viruses to reach these points???
3. Older/ more vulnerable need to step up and get vaccinated. Where there is clear risk to benefit-as seen in targeted flu vacc programs.

There is no simplistic answer here. Messaging that will all be ok at a specific vaccinated number is misleading. We will need an ongoing mix of strategies for a prolonged time.

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Dr. Ian Rivlin
Dr. Ian Rivlin
3 years ago

[Edited]
We need to think about all alternatives and this requires people to get off their high horses and at least consider repurposing of safe and well tested off-patent drugs – even if unliked politicians advocated for such medications.
Historians will not be kind or charitable to those who put their political bias and pride before the lives of humanity.

We don’t want captains who are happy to go down with their ships. We need captains who *avoid* the danger, even if that means considering a hated crewmember’s opinion.

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