Five weeks into Sydney’s lockdown, NSW is opening its vaccination hubs to younger adults wanting AstraZeneca jabs.
All adults will be able to book a vaccine at a state-run hub from Friday or seek out the jab at participating pharmacies from Wednesday.
“This is positive news in line with the health advice,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday.
“We know the vaccine protects against serious illness, but also reduces how contagious you are and that is really critical moving forward.”
The move comes days after the nation’s expert vaccine panel said all adults in greater Sydney “should strongly consider” taking any vaccine, given the risk of catching COVID.
Sydney has been battling a spiralling outbreak since mid-June, recording nearly 2400 cases.
NSW leaders have been dialling up their rhetoric for weeks around the AstraZeneca vaccine, encouraging the hesitant to push through and get it.
But that required booking through a GP.
The state’s top doctor said she had no concerns about AstraZeneca, having got it herself and recommended it for her husband and mother-in-law.
“The risks of AstraZeneca are infinitesimally small compared to the benefits,” Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said last week.
State-run clinics administered almost 25,000 jabs on Monday, meaning 30 per cent of the state’s population has now had their first jab.
About one-in-eight NSW residents have had both doses.
The current outbreak began in eastern Sydney on June 16 but exploded once it seeded in southwestern Sydney.
Compared to Greater Sydney, the five local government areas that are the particular focus of current restrictions – Fairfield, Liverpool, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland and Blacktown – have a younger population and larger households.
The premier urged people make August the month they get their first jab.
“We know the strategy of restrictions and vaccine will be our recipe for freedom,” Ms Berejiklian said on Tuesday.
AAP
Read more:
