On Monday,13 pharmacies within local government areas of concern in Sydney received their first shipments of the Moderna vaccine,the third brand of COVID-19 shot to be added to the rollout.
Loading
More than 21 per cent of children aged 12 to 15 in NSW have now received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine,after bookings of the Pfizer vaccine were made available to the age group last week.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the uptake had been “outstanding” and encouraged parents to take advantage of the Moderna appointments,describing the 12-15 age bracket as “critical” for when schools return next month.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been approved for use in people aged 12 and over. AstraZeneca is approved for use in people aged 18 and older.
Across NSW,more than 82 per cent of the over-16 population has received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine,and 53 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Eight of the pharmacies scheduled to receive Moderna on Monday were in the Canterbury-Bankstown area. Two,including Mr On’s,were in Cabramatta and the remaining three were at Guildford,Kogarah and Lugarno.
More than 1800 community pharmacies across Australia will receive Moderna doses this week,including 569 in NSW. An additional 1800 will receive doses from September 27.
“Allocations across NSW will range between 100 and 150 doses a week initially,increasing to between 150 and 200 doses per community pharmacy later in October,” the federal Department of Health said in a statement.
Howie Yi,pharmacist at Priceline Canterbury,received his doses on Monday. He said he would spend the afternoon determining how appointments would work:a waitlist of about 100 people had been building “for the past few weeks”.
Loading
“It’s people of all ages but there’s a lot of demand from parents for teenagers,” he said,noting most adults who had asked about their vaccination options had decided to receive AstraZeneca at the pharmacy,although some had “opted to wait”.
Warren Del-Grande,pharmacist at Lugarno Pharmacy,said he had a Moderna waitlist of more than 50 people,with more than half aged 12 to 15. His doses arrived on Monday afternoon.
“We have been administering AstraZeneca for six weeks but it’s tapered off a bit now,” he said.
“Ever since word got out we might get Moderna people have said they will wait. There is still a hesitancy[about AstraZeneca] there.”
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign uphere.