We haven't vaccinated all our health workers, or those in aged care .And there is nothing from government when this is about to happen. And don't count on getting more AZ soon, not matter what is said . the EU is keeping vaccine made in the EU for themselves, and the UK just doesn't have any to spare.
Only about 130,000 to 150,000 doses of Pfizer's jab arrive on our shores every week, meaning some patients under 50 could opt for AstraZeneca's more-available jab to get immediate protection.
This is a particular issue for unvaccinated healthcare workers who could be on the front line of a new outbreak.
The federal government said it would prioritise Pfizer's vaccine for healthcare workers under 50, but much of that vaccine continues to flow to aged-care, which is still weeks away from being fully vaccinated. Some healthcare workers simply cannot access a Pfizer vaccine at all at this stage.
In Victoria, about 25 per cent of frontline healthcare workers in phase 1a - the highest risk group of the vaccine roll-out - still have not received their first vaccine dose. Federal figures are not available.
Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association assistant secretary Andrew Hewat said many members of the union were now caught "almost in no-man's land".
"They don't know how long it's going to take to get them vaccinated if they wait for Pfizer. And especially in Victoria, they are highly sensitive to the implications of an outbreak, having lived through 2020. It's a real worry for them," he said.
"It feels like they have basically left our members out hanging."
And then this;
We can not expect the UK to give us AZ any time soon.
In an interview on Friday, Thierry Breton said that “zero” doses made in the EU would be sanctioned for delivery to the UK until AstraZeneca fulfilled its contract with the bloc.
There was no immediate response from the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant to Mr Breton’s assertion that the company had acknowledged that all but 1.2-1.5 million doses of vaccine produced at the Halix plant in Leiden, the Netherlands, as well as the plant in Seneffe, Belgium, were for the EU.
So, where exactly are we getting the next batch of vaccines from? And when?
The plants have been at the centre of a “vaccine war” between London and Brussels, with the UK insisting it has first claim on AstraZeneca production under the terms of contracts signed last year.
Mr Breton said: “I organised a video teleconference between the CEO of Halix and the CEO of AstraZeneca, and finally the CEO of AstraZeneca recognised that all the production of Halix was planned to support the EU delivery. That is all I can tell you.
“The CEO of AstraZeneca told us that in fact since February all the production of Halix has been planned to be delivered to Europe except, he said, one batch, to be very precise.”
Covid jabs produced in EU states to stay in Europe, says Brussels vaccine tsar (msn.com)