‘No jab, no franking credits’: Let’s get creative to get Australia vaccinated

With each lockdown, it becomes ever clearer just how exposed we are. No quarantine system is perfect – none can guarantee the virus stays out. We’ve had a leak every two to three weeks, and we may continue to do so. We’ve been lucky most haven’t led to a full-blown outbreak, but the jury is still out on this one. Victorians are suffering now – but any state could be next.

What makes this frustrating is that the world invented a silver bullet a full 15 months ago. Other countries waited, cautiously, until nine months later to start rolling vaccines out. We dragged our feet, inexplicably, for a further two months, by the time they’d already rolled out millions. That two-month delay achieved nothing. Having finally got going, we’ve underperformed even the slowpoke European Union. At our current pace, we won’t be done until the end of next year at the earliest.

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NT introduces 'day 17 test' for COVID to prevent a local repeat of Victoria's coronavirus outbreak

Victoria's coronavirus outbreak — and breaches in hotel quarantine more generally — have spurred a new coronavirus testing measure in the Northern Territory.

The new direction will require anyone who returns from overseas, quarantines interstate and then travels soon afterwards to the NT to get a coronavirus test three days after they complete their fortnight of quarantine.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner called the direction the "day 17 test" and said it was necessary to protect Territorians against the coronavirus variants that had repeatedly tripped up hotel quarantine regimes interstate.

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Radical changes proposed for Australia’s vaccination program amid Victoria outbreak

A serious Covid-19 outbreak is unfolding in Victoria and experts believe Australia should make radical changes to its vaccination program.

Experts have called for a radical overhaul of Australia’s vaccination program amid the Victorian outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases in the state grew to 40 on Sunday, with authorities worried over the discovery of the first mystery case.

Victoria’s list of exposure sites has now soared past 170 venues and authorities are particularly concerned about the number of “high-risk” sites identified, such as pubs and clubs, leading to fears the state could see an explosion of infections in the coming days.

A seven-day snap lockdown has been introduced over the entire state but experts believe the rest of Australia should also contribute.

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Former US official David Asher claims Covid-19 started in Wuhan lab

A former US State Department official has revealed that the wife of a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology died of a mysterious virus-like illness in December 2019, adding further weight to charges that the Covid-19 pandemic may have started in a Chinese lab.

David Asher — who was part of a team investigating the origins of the coronavirus whose work was stopped by the Biden administration — has made the shock claim to the US-based Daily Caller News Foundation.

If the woman did die from a coronavirus infection, it would have been another early clue that the virus could be passed from person to person, something China vigorously denied for several weeks even as the pandemic spread across the globe.

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Absolute beast’: Authorities express concern as daily local infection tally grows to 11

Victoria’s coronavirus cluster has grown by 11 new locally acquired cases on Monday as the state’s top health official described the task of managing the outbreak as an “absolute beast”.

Early on Monday the state’s health department recorded five new cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Sunday.

Acting Premier James Merlino then announced at a lunchtime media conference that a further six cases had come through after Sunday night’s deadline for the daily tally.

Mr Merlino said public health teams were interviewing those people and contract tracing was underway.

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Third wave of Covid may be under way in UK, scientists say

Scientists have warned ministers that a third wave of coronavirus may have already begun in Britain, casting doubt on plans in England to lift all lockdown restrictions in three weeks’ time.

Experts cautioned that any rise in coronavirus hospital admissions could leave the NHS struggling to cope as it battles to clear the huge backlog in non-Covid cases.

Downing Street insisted it was too soon for speculation about whether the plan to lift all lockdown rules in England on 21 June could go ahead, prompting calls from the hospitality industry for the government to ensure it provided “advance notice” for struggling businesses of any “lingering” measures.

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Dozens of exposure sites added as authorities hunt origin of 'mystery case'

The number of potential COVID-19 exposure sites has exploded as Victorian authorities desperately try to track the latest outbreak's first "mystery case".

Authorities yesterday added almost 100 new venues and times to the rapidly growing list, while confirming five new cases had been discovered in the community.

 

The exposure sites added overnight included major supermarkets and department stores.

Aldi at Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre, Big W in Craigieburn and Coles at Point Cook Shopping Centre were added to the Tier One list.

 

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Most Americans Are Now Vaccinated — But These 10 Countries Are Doing Even Better

The United States is one of the most heavily vaccinated countries against Covid-19, but several wealthy Western nations and smaller ones have outpaced U.S. vaccination efforts, partly due to varying strategies on how to hand out doses.

The United States has administered at least one vaccine dose to 50.3% of its population, according to CDC figures released Saturday, making it the world’s 11th most heavily vaccinated country aside from nations with fewer than 100,000 residents, according to figures compiled by the New York Times.

Bhutan is the most heavily vaccinated nation in the world, with 63% of the mountainous Asian country’s residents having received at least one dose, a feat that involved officials and volunteers sending vaccine doses to some remote areas on foot or via helicopter.

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Can I get AstraZeneca now and Pfizer later? Why mixing and matching COVID vaccines could help solve many rollout problems

In the face of changing eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine, new variants of the coronavirus and supply constraints, many people are wondering whether they can "mix and match" COVID-19 vaccines.

This means, for example, having the AstraZeneca vaccine as the first dose, followed by a different vaccine such as Pfizer as the second dose, and boosters with other vaccines later on.

While many studies are ongoing, data has recently been released from mix and match trials in Spain and the United Kingdom.

This data is very promising, and suggests mix and match schedules may give higher antibody levels than two doses of a single vaccine.

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Ipswich vaccination rates lagging behind

THE NUMBER of COVID-19 jabs administered at state government clinics in the fastest growing region in Queensland are lagging behind other parts of the state with smaller population bases.

West Moreton Health has now opened its Ipswich Hospital Cribb House vaccination clinic to the public, offering both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to those eligible.

According to Queensland Health data, 3884 vaccine doses have been administered by the West Moreton Health and Hospital Service so far, with 326 of those happening on Friday.

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Wuhan lab leak is ‘feasible’, say British spies

British agents now believe it is “feasible” that the global pandemic began with a coronavirus leak from a Chinese research laboratory.

In a significant sharpening of tension with Beijing, they are investigating a possible leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which Beijing angrily insists was not the source of the virus that has caused more than 3.5 million deaths and is still raging globally.

They do so as controversy grows about the alleged silencing of scientists who wanted an investigation of the lab-leak theory.

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Meet the under 50s who are itching to take the AstraZeneca vaccine

Many Australians under the age of 50 would be happy to take the AstraZeneca vaccine if it were offered to them, despite a blood clotting risk that led authorities to name the Pfizer jab as the preferred option for that cohort.

There are growing calls to open up Australia’s vaccination program to ensure all doses are utilised, or to redirect doses now held back for people’s second jab so that more people can get their first shot sooner.

Rose Drover, a 30-year-old from Manly who works in science communications at a university, would take the AstraZeneca jab if she were eligible.

“The benefits to the people around me, including my family, far outweigh the extremely small risks,” she said.

“Even in the extremely rare instance I did experience the clotting, I wouldn’t regret taking a vaccine because I know how devastating it would be if COVID-19 took off again and more lives were lost.”

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Contentious COVID-19 bioweapon book has familiar researcher

Three Australian books about China are making headlines. Two of them are by expelled China correspondents. And the third is by The Australian’s investigations editor and Sky News host Sharri Markson, which explores the contentious possibility that the coronavirus pandemic began with biological experimentation taking place in a laboratory in Wuhan.

Markson’s book, published by News Corp’s HarperCollins, is the outlier in more ways than one.

Take her researchers, one of whom is paparazzo turned freelance journalist Liam Mendes.

He rose to unwelcome prominence in 2015 after being named as the photographer whose image of then-Sunrise host Samantha Armytage’s rear end sparked national condemnation.

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Scientists develop five-minute COVID test

Australian scientists have developed a saliva test that can detect COVID-19 in five minutes.

The portable testing device uses infrared light to detect the virus in saliva samples, and scientists say it could be capable of screening 5000 people a day.

In preliminary testing, the screening device was able to correctly detect the virus in 27 out of 29 patients.

But the research, led by Monash University and the Doherty Institute, is only up to 'proof-of-concept' stage, so it may be some time before 'brain tickler' nasal swabs are no longer needed.

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Vietnam says new outbreak caused by hybrid of UK, India virus variants

Hanoi: Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the UK.

The Vietnamese health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday that scientists examined the genetic makeup of the virus that had infected some recent patients and found the new version of the virus. He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus.

Viruses often develop small genetic changes as they reproduce and new variants of the coronavirus have been seen almost since it was first detected in China in late 2019. The World Health Organisation has listed four global “variants of concern” – the two first found in the UK and India, plus ones identified in South Africa and Brazil.

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Kate Middleton receives first Covid vaccine 9 days after Prince William as she praises hero NHS frontline workers

The Duchess of Cambridge has received her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine just days after Prince William was jabbed this month.

 Kate Middleton praised the NHS as she received her first dose of the Covid vaccine just days after Prince William was jabbed.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, posed for a photo at the Science Museum in London.

Kate looked casual in a white T-shirt and light blue jeans as the needle was administered.

In an official tweet, she said: “Yesterday I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at London’s Science Museum.

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Queensland tipped to convert sports stadiums into mass vaccination hubs

The Queensland Government will follow in the footsteps of NSW and Victoria and open a number of mass vaccination hubs in a bid to increase the amount of jabs administered across the state.

Venues like Suncorp Stadium, the Ekka Showgrounds and the Brisbane Competition and Convention Centre could be transformed into the new centres, with the recent outbreak in Victoria prompting the state government to ramp up vaccination numbers.

 

It is understood detailed planning is already under way by the Palaszczuk government to look at how to staff could operate the facilities, with amendments having been adjusted to existing regulations to formally allow the process to get underway.

 

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Calls for vaccine shake-up to put young workers first

Young essential workers in supermarkets and food delivery should be vaccinated to stem the spread of coronavirus outbreaks, according to infectious diseases experts who called for a shake-up of the nation’s vaccine strategy.

Until now, health authorities have focused on getting Australia’s limited supplies of vaccine to older or vulnerable Australians and frontline workers.

But as Victoria’s outbreak grew by five people to 35 cases on Saturday, leading epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws called for all of the nation’s Pfizer supplies to be diverted to Melbourne.

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Unrelenting attacks from left-wing media to stop COVID-19 origins investigation: Sharri Markson

What Really Happened in Wuhan Author Sharri Markson says "the attacks from the left-wing media" to stop her from investigating the issue of COVID-19's origins have been "unrelenting". "They didn't even want this to be examined and it never made any sense. This is a logical place for an investigation to look at. The virus broke out in Wuhan... the Wuhan Institute of Virology deals in the world's most dangerous coronaviruses," she said. "They didn't just have them in their freezers but they were genetically manipulating them."

SkyNews                    Care About Others ?  -  Vaccinate Today.

How to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in young people

Ending the coronavirus pandemic rests partly on a large uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, with the goal of reaching herd immunity. Recently in Canada, the age for vaccine eligibility has been decreasing to include young adults and adolescents. However, little work has been done to understand willingness to receive the vaccine among this age group.

Our group from the Childhood Adversity and Resilience (CARe) Research Team at University of Manitoba recently published a new study aimed at understanding the COVID-19 vaccine intentions of older adolescents and young adults, and reasons for any expressed vaccine hesitancy.

Our participants included 664 young people aged 16 to 21 years from Manitoba. We also examined how sociodemographic factors, existing health problems, COVID-19 knowledge and childhood adversity history might be related to vaccine intention. 

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Why has the vaccine rollout been so slow?

The day before Victoria went into its fourth lockdown, Australia finally clocked up 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a target Prime Minister Scott Morrison had promised would be reached by the end of March.

Back in January Health Minister Greg Hunt had said the federal government’s goal was “very clear”: “We aim to have the country vaccinated before the end of October.”

As of May 28, just under 15 per cent of the population had received their first vaccination dose and about 1.3 per cent had been fully vaccinated, according to The Age ’s COVID-19 vaccine tracker, which is based on federal and state health department figures.

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Chinese scientists were creating 'new viruses': Sharri Markson

Sky News host Sharri Markson says Chinese scientists and American scientists have both been involved in creating "new viruses" in labs. 

 "Of course, of course, they've been doing this- and it's not just China by the way, but American scientists as well," she told Sky News host Alan Jones. "It's called gain-of-function research where you create brand new viruses that have never existed before... capable of causing a pandemic.

"The scientists say that they're creating these viruses to see what type of viruses might be capable of crossing over to humans and causing a pandemic, and then they work on developing vaccines."

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Lifting the lid on the Covid cover-up: Sharri Markson explores what happened in Wuhan

It’s the burning question of our time — what really happened in Wuhan?

For The Australian’s investigations writer Sharri Markson, it’s a question that needs to be forensically unpicked sooner rather than later, lest the lessons of Wuhan be lost to history.

Markson, 37, has written her debut book on the subject, and says she was motivated to undertake the project following the release in February of the World Health Organisation’s report into the origins of COVID-19, which was widely criticised for its lack of depth amid claims that the agency did not push hard enough for answers.

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Sharri Markson ‘condemned’ by media who have now conceded ‘the exact same point’

 Sharri Markson was initially “condemned” by some media for her investigation into the origins of COVID-19, but now they have actually conceded the “same point” as her, according to Sky News host Chris Kenny. 

“At its heart, Sharri’s reporting has focused on the concerns of western governments and considerable evidence that the virus did not emerge naturally through animals at a wet market… but rather leaked accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” 

Mr Kenny said. “Still Markson does not assert that this is what happened, rather, the US and other countries are investigating that theory, that there is a strong likelihood this could be what happened – human error sparking an accidental global pandemic.

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Anthony Fauci backed virus experiments ‘despite pandemic risk’

 America’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus, Anthony Fauci, argued that the benefits of experimenting on contagious viruses – manipulating and heightening their infectious potency – was worth the risk of a laboratory accident sparking a pandemic.

In previously unreported remarks, Dr Fauci supported the contentious gain-of-­function experiments that some now fear might have led to an escape from a Wuhan laboratory causing the Covid-19 pandemic, calling them “important work”.

An investigation by The Weekend Australian has also confirmed Dr Fauci, the director of the Nat­ional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not alert senior White House officials before lifting the ban on gain-of-function research in 2017.

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Edwina Bartholomew: Why I’ll get the vaccine as soon as I can

I haven’t seen my sister for 18 months. She is stuck in London while we are here in Fortress Australia.

She has only met my daughter a handful of times and only knows my nephew through FaceTime.

Boo hoo, I hear some of you say. It’s a global pandemic and it’s her choice to live overseas.

Fair enough. But it should also be her choice to come home … once she is vaccinated and so are we.

So what the hell are we waiting for? My Channel 7 colleagues rolled up their sleeves a few weeks ago to get the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Guess what? They are still alive, they haven’t found a microchip in their arm directly connected to Bill Gates, their DNA has not been altered and they have not miraculously spread the virus to the rest of us.

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Police tackle, arrest protesters at Melbourne anti-vaccination rally

Police have tackled a number of men to the ground in North Melbourne after an anti-lockdown and vaccination protest in downtown Melbourne turned violent.

At least five men were arrested, with one man bleeding from the head and police deploying OC spray during the scuffle with protesters on Victoria Street.

All gatherings, including protests, are banned under Victoria’s lockdown restrictions as the state grapples with a fresh outbreak of coronavirus.

Multiple people were arrested earlier at the protest which began at Flagstaff Gardens in the Melbourne CBD. Within an hour at least 12 people were arrested.

A heavy police presence surrounded the gardens where about 50 protesters against vaccinations and Victoria’s seven-day lockdown gathered at noon.

One woman was detained by police outside Queen Victoria Market.

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How to make a COVID vaccination booking in Melbourne and regional Victoria

Getting vaccinated against coronavirus is one of just five reasons Victorians are allowed to leave their houses under the restrictions of the seven-day lockdown.

This week, the Victorian government's COVID-19 vaccination hotline crashed after receiving 77,000 calls in a 15-minute window.

An IT outage on Saturday morning also affected two vaccination centres in inner Melbourne.

Despite teething problems, authorities have vowed to push on with the rollout.

"We commit to vaccinating every single Victorian who wants to be vaccinated in the coming weeks," professor Ben Cowie, who is leading Victoria's vaccine rollout, said on Friday.

Here's how to work out what vaccine you're eligible to receive, how to book an appointment, and where to go for a walk-in vaccination.

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German researchers say they know why vaccines cause blood clots

 

Los Angeles | German researchers believed they have found the cause of the rare but serious blood clotting events among some people who received COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The researchers, in a study not yet reviewed by experts, said on Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccines that employed adenovirus vectors – cold viruses used to deliver vaccine material – sent some of their payload into the nucleus of cells, where some of the instructions for making coronavirus proteins could be misread.

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Vaccines charge up natural immunity against SARS-CoV-2

 

According to new research, people who have had COVID enjoy strong immunity against the coronavirus for at least a year after they were initially infected. In analyzing antibodies present in the blood of COVID patients, Rockefeller scientists were able to track the evolution of these mutable molecules. They found that vaccination boosts the immunity these individuals naturally develop upon infection, so much that they are likely protected even from the emerging variants.

The 63 people in the study had COVID in the spring of last year. Data from their follow-ups show that, over time, antibodies produced by the immune system’s memory B cells got better and better at neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that these people were developing an improved, long lasting defense against the virus.

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The number of Aussies who don’t want a Covid jab has soared

 

Exclusive: Resistance to Covid-19 vaccination has soared in the last three months among younger women, single mums and parents with young children.

Fear of the rare blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca jab has driven the increased hesitancy with 58 per cent of unvaccinated Australians concerned about side effects.

A new survey has found the number of people outright rejecting the vaccines has leapt from 13 per cent of the population in January to 17 per cent in May.

The percentage who say they were “likely” to get the vaccine has dropped from 24 per cent in January to 15 per cent in May.

However, the good news is 23 per cent of those surveyed said they had already had the jab and 28 per cent said they were “very likely” to get it – a total of 51 per cent.

In January before the rollout even began only 44 per cent of people said they were “very likely” to get the jab. 

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Five new coronavirus cases diagnosed in Victoria

 

Victoria has recorded five new local cases of coronavirus overnight.

The Victorian Government has announced the new numbers, which bring the cluster to 35.

 

It is not yet known if the cases are linked to previous cases.

 

There were over 56,000 tests done - a record number.

Another 21,626 vaccinations were given.

 

There were two new cases in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of people with the virus to 45. One person is in hospital.

 

Officials are expected to hold a media conference later, as Melbourne begins the weekend in lockdown.

 

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Victorian jab rollout at breaking point amid tech crunch

 

Victoria’s vaccination rollout has been overwhelmed by people seeking protection against the latest COVID-19 outbreak, with the state government unable to deploy a high-tech management system it bought three months ago to support mass inoculation.

The short-notice expansion of the vaccination schedule to include anyone in their 40s pushed the state’s capacity to take new bookings beyond breaking point.

A dedicated 1-800 vaccination hotline struggled to cope with demand and Victoria’s senior public servants issued an SOS for more staff to man the phones

Despite the problems with the booking system, Victoria broke its record for the most vaccine doses administered in a single day on Thursday. Health Department data shows there were 41,389 doses administered, breaking the previous record by more than 10,000.

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