The two COVID-19 vaccines Australians have long been waiting for are approved and one will be rolled out come Monday, but some in the community are still unclear about how they will get the jab and why they are not getting it sooner.
Key points:
- Australia's COVID-19 vaccine program begins on Monday
- Some people who are cared for at home are concerned they will have to wait for the jab
- Experts say the delay for vulnerable people living at home is concerning, but ultimately "makes sense"
When the Federal Government released its plan for the mass vaccination program, Ivy Sutton looked at her family and wondered why they were in the same phase as meat processing workers.
Ms Sutton is 71 years old, which places her in phase 1b of the COVID-19 vaccination program, but it's not herself she's worried about.
Her three adopted children, two now adults — Robert, Tanya and Rachel — all live with disability as well as other health complications and Ms Sutton believes they should be vaccinated in the first phase.
Only people with disability who live in a group home will be included in phase 1a of the vaccine rollout.
"Sometimes I think it's an oversight," Ivy said.
"There [are] a lot of people out there that have benefited from the NDIS — which has been absolutely wonderful — but I don't know whether the Government's been aware that it's stopped a lot of our families being put into group care and a lot of them aren't in group care because they are high needs.
"If they were in a group home, they would be eligible for it."
Her daughter Tanya Sutton, 40, is a quadriplegic Indigenous woman and was shocked she was not included in the 1a priority group.
"To be honest with you, I thought I would be higher," she said.
If Tanya lived in a group home, she would be in phase 1a of the rollout, but as it stands, people with disability or older Australians who are looked after at home, remain in 1b, which is likely to get vaccinations beginning sometime in late March.
Rachel Sutton, 28, has complex cerebral palsy, requiring 24-hour care and oxygen overnight.
Ivy fears COVID-19 would be deadly to her family.
"It's not something where you can have a bad cold and you can take a day and get over it — it's definitely very life-threatening," she said.
Ivy said she wanted to make sure the government knew there were families out there looking after people with high needs who were not going to fall into phase 1a.
"All year it's been a real panic for me; not just the fact of looking after the kids, I just don't know what's going to happen and I'm too scared and they're too scared to go out," she said.
'Justice matters as well'
Dr Xavier Symons, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Plunkett Centre of Ethics and expert in the allocation of medical resources, said the approach to vulnerable people living at home was a concern.
"It strikes me that people with disabilities in home care are more vulnerable in some respects than people in long-term care facilities," he said.
"If you live at home, you may be more likely to be exposed to a virus like SARS-CoV-2 than if you were in a facility which has strict regulations on visitors and staff movements."
The Sutton family has up to 16 different carers coming through their home each day.
"People with disabilities in home care are less visible, but this doesn't make them any less vulnerable," Dr Symons said.
Dr Symons said older people being cared for at home were also likely to fall through this gap.
"They may need to visit a clinic to get vaccinated, and this is not always easy," he said.
A spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the work to vaccinate people in care at home was ongoing.
"The Australian Government and Department of Health continue to work with the states and territories, peak bodies and related organisations regarding the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, including the roll-out to those who may need to be vaccinated at home," they said in a statement.
The ABC has received countless emails from audience members concerned they or their elderly relatives will be unable to access vaccine hubs due to mobility issues.
"Ethically, most people take a utilitarian approach to vaccination policy," Dr Symons said.
"One manifestation of this is the prioritisation of people who are most at risk of being infected and becoming super-spreaders — hotel quarantine workers, frontline healthcare workers.
"But justice matters as well."
The spokesperson for Mr Hunt said the government devised the vaccination rollout plan on advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
"ATAGI prioritised residents and staff of residential aged care and disability accommodation ahead of those living at home due to the congregate living setting leading to an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"People with a disability or [who] are immunocompromised will be included in phase 1a or phase 1b."
'Decision based on medical advice'
Dr Jane Williams is a research fellow at the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies and has helped develop an ethical framework for pandemic vaccine allocations in the past.
"We did say that irrespective of what was happening in that particular pandemic context, it should be healthcare workers and other … workers who are likely to come into contact with COVID patients [vaccinated first]," she said.
The group also said Indigenous Australians should be prioritised because, historically, First Nations people have fared worse during pandemics.
But Dr Williams said part of the difficulty with public health rollouts was they were not designed around individual circumstances, so situations like the Sutton's would still exist.
"For better or for worse, it's much easier for people who are not living in residential care to isolate," she said.
"Isolating [is] difficult, but it is a good and effective way of staying safe.
"So, people who are in residential care can't isolate in the same way as people living in the home. I'm assuming that that's the basis for that decision."
Dr Williams said it was a logical approach.
"To me, it makes sense. It's definitely difficult for people with really complex health needs who are very, very keen to be vaccinated as soon as possible," she said.
The spokesperson for Mr Hunt said the Government said it was a "medical decision based on medical advice".
"The three priority groups identified by ATAGI are those at increased risk of exposure; those who have an increased risk, relative to others, of developing severe disease or outcomes from COVID 19, and; those working in services critical to societal functioning," the spokesperson said.
Ivy said she understood there was a limit to the number of people who could be included in phase 1a.
"I do understand that there are more people at risk, and I fully agree with what's there, but I don't think we've had a clarity as to them realising people like us do exist," she said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAyLTE5L2dhcHMtaW4tY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS1yb2xsb3V0LWFuZC13aG8td2lsbC1oYXZlLXRvLXdhaXQvMTMxNTg4OTLSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTMxNTg4OTI?oc=5
2021-02-18 17:42:00Z
52781386348319
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "The 'oversight' in our COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the vulnerable Australians who will have to wait - ABC News"
Post a Comment