Children aged 12 to 15 have been given the green light to get a COVID-19 vaccination, as the national rollout ticked over the milestone of having one-third of adults fully jabbed.
The ACT leads the way with 40 per cent of the national capital's over-16s fully vaccinated, as Western Australia trails the pack on 29.8 per cent.
After a shaky start, the national program has now exceeded 18.4 million doses, with 61 per cent of over-70s, 49 per cent of over-50s and 33 per cent of all those over 16 fully vaccinated.
Bookings for children aged 12 to 15 will open from September 13, following approval by the national expert immunisation panel.
The GP network will be the mainstay of the child vaccination program.
"That provides the opportunity for family vaccinations, for the family to get together across those age groups," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters.
States and territories will be left to decide on whether to run school-based programs.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said more children were being infected in this year's outbreaks partly due to higher vaccination rates of adults.
"While the numbers are there and we are finding cases in children, most are in family clusters, some have been related to school clusters," he said.
"But almost entirely, the disease in children is much less severe than it is in adults."
Education Minister Alan Tudge said having all secondary children included in the rollout would disrupt transmission in schools.
About 260,000 children aged 12 to 15 with compromised immune systems, disabilities, underlying health condition or who are Indigenous are already eligible.
Monash University's Dr Vinod Balasubramaniam said it was possible to open up schools alongside the vaccine strategy by implementing COVID-safe measures including ventilation strategies.
"Fully vaccinating teachers and education workers should be an urgent priority, with at least one dose received before schools open up," he said.
"This is to reduce the risk of transmission from teachers and to better protect the children."
Mr Morrison and state and territory leaders on Friday received updated modelling from the Doherty Institute which underpins a national agreement to reopen gradually when vaccine coverage reaches 70 and 80 per cent.
The institute argues it would be safe to open at the vaccine targets even if there are high case numbers in the hundreds.
But top-quality use of testing, tracing, isolating and quarantine needs to be maintained and small-scale lockdowns not ruled out even at the higher threshold.
NSW recorded another 882 new local infections on Friday, down from the previous day when the 1000-case barrier was broken for the first time in Australia.
Two more deaths took the national toll to 991.
There were 80 cases in Victoria and 21 in the ACT.
Late on Friday, WA Premier Mark McGowan announced two truck drivers who travelled from NSW had tested positive to the coronavirus upon their arrival in Perth.
The pair were tested as part of routine surveillance in NSW on Wednesday, before embarking on their journey through Victoria and South Australian to WA, where they arrived on Thursday night.
Mr McGowan moved to reassure West Australians the risk to the community was low, as the men - essential workers - had minimal contact with others.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnBlcnRobm93LmNvbS5hdS9uZXdzL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzL2phYi1mb3Ita2lkcy1hcy10aGlyZC1vZi1hZHVsdHMtdmFjY2luYXRlZC1jLTM4MDE5MTjSAQA?oc=5
2021-08-27 17:33:00Z
CAIiEA3-6xRdJF_PKKcMWI0fkeoqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowjtL_CjDIzfkCMILr6AU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jab for kids as third of adults vaccinated - PerthNow"
Post a Comment