COVID Vaccine Roll Out

[JetBlast]

Hello,

 

I have just announcement that the COVID vaccine is due to be rolled out soon. 
 

I am curious as to how they do this? Do they go off the Medicare database? I have a Medicare. I have used it once when I was away from my home state and that has been it. 
 

I am on a 489 so I am not sure if that makes a difference to eligibility? I will be applying for my 887 in a few months so I will be entitled to full Medicare soon anyway.  

 

Probably too early to ask but I thought I would throw it out there. 
 

Cheers. 

[MacGyver]

28 minutes ago, JetBlast said:

Hello,

 

I have just announcement that the COVID vaccine is due to be rolled out soon. 
 

I am curious as to how they do this? Do they go off the Medicare database? I have a Medicare. I have used it once when I was away from my home state and that has been it. 
 

I am on a 489 so I am not sure if that makes a difference to eligibility? I will be applying for my 887 in a few months so I will be entitled to full Medicare soon anyway.  

 

Probably too early to ask but I thought I would throw it out there. 
 

Cheers. 

The first stage of rollout seems limited to Quarantine staff, frontline health workers and staff and residents of aged and/or disability care residential facilities, using the Pfeizer vaccine (approval pending in Jan). Those groups should be farily easy to identify and will likely take a while to complete. It seems likely that Astrazeneca will be the vaccine used for the larger population (as can be manufactured in Ausralia), which they expect to be approved for use Mid to late Feb. So I cant answer your question, but given it will still be a few months at least before vaccines are more widely available, we should get more clarity around how people are identified in the coming weeks and months. 

Taken from the ABC (I likely wont get a vaccine until Phase 2b, so second half of the year no doubt) 

Phase 1a - up to 1.4m doses 

• Quarantine and border workers (70,000)

• Frontline health care worker sub-groups for prioritisation (100,000)

• Aged care and disability care staff (318,000)

• Aged care and disability care residents (190,000)

Phase 1b - up to 14.8m doses 

• Elderly adults aged 80 years and over (1,045,000)

• Elderly adults aged 70-79 years (1,858,000)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people > 55 (87,000)

• Younger adults with an underlying medical condition, including those with a disability (2,000,000)

• Critical and high risk workers including defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing (196,000)

Phase 2a - up to 15.8m doses 

• Adults aged 60 to 69 years (2,650,000)

• Adults aged 50-59 years (3,080,000)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 18-54 (387,000)

• Other critical and high risk workers (453,000)

Phase 2b - up to 16m doses 

• Balance of adult population (6,643,000)

• Catch up any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases

Phase 3 - up to 13.6m doses 

• < 18 if recommended (5,670,000)

Edited January 7, 2021 by MacGyver

[JetBlast]

I get there is a priority but how would they call these people up?

[mt9754]

On the news they mentioned no Medicare required.  I believe this is because they acknowledge there are so many displaced people in Australia at the moment and want to put health concerns first.

[Marisawright]

34 minutes ago, JetBlast said:

I get there is a priority but how would they call these people up?

I'd say the most likely option is that they'll make announcements saying the vaccine is available to a certain group, then it's up to you to go to a vaccination centre and prove you belong to that group.

[MacGyver]

46 minutes ago, JetBlast said:

I get there is a priority but how would they call these people up?

For some I would imagine its via employers, at least thats how it works for the flu vaccine in my work. We get an email with a link to register for early/free flu vaccination and that process confirms you work 'frontline'. So for those who work or are living in care homes, I imagine it will be fed out through the employer/organisations (who should be registered to provide care etc), or docs will attend x residential home on x date to vaccinate all staff and residents. Then for the phases based on age groups in the community, I would imagine its a lot like MArissa said. An announcement saying "If you are xx age You are now eligible, register on this website to select a place/time to receive your vaccine". Turn up with an ID document (to prove eg age) and then get the jab. 

[JamesBrown89]

I am very interested in how long the vaccination will last, I have heard that it can last until 2024, as some countries lag far behind others.

[Marisawright]

12 hours ago, JamesBrown89 said:

I am very interested in how long the vaccination will last, I have heard that it can last until 2024, as some countries lag far behind others.

Do you mean how long is it effective, or do you mean how long will it take to get everyone vaccinated?   I can well believe some countries will take a long time.