Premier Dominic Perrottet, NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce and NSW Chief Paediatrician Dr Matthew O’Meara, appeared at a press conference just after 10am today to announce that children as young as five years of age will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination from next Monday.
Dr Matthew O’Meara said that next Monday and through January, children aged five to 11 years of age will be eligible for the Pfizer COVID vaccine. ‘It’s a special formulation that Pfizer vaccine it’s a third of the adult dose, yet that small dose is enough to generate an immune response that’s as strong as a full dose in young adults.
‘We know it’s safe’
‘It’s two doses eight weeks apart. We know it’s safe. It’s been tested in 1,000s of children in clinical trials, and millions of doses of first and second doses have been given in other countries.
‘We know it’s effective. It’s very effective at preventing kids from developing COVID and preventing severe disease and preventing transmission of COVID from one child to another person. We know there are a few side effects and these are mostly minor.
Dr O’Meara said many kids complain of a bit of a sore arm for a day or two afterwards. ‘But the headache muscle aches fever, chills and nausea that we adults have often felt, are really pretty uncommon in children and can get managed with the usual pain-relieving medications.
‘The serious side effects like myocarditis that happen mainly in older teenagers, we haven’t seen in young children, so we think it’s very safe, effective and reliable vaccine.’
Dr O’Meara said parents may be weighing up the risks and the benefits of giving young children a vaccine. ‘We know that COVID is generally a mild disease in children. In fact, many children will have no symptoms at all. And a large number will just have mild symptoms of a cough cold runny nose and fever that lasts for up to five days.
A few children can become very unwell
A few children can become very unwell, and data from earlier strains in largely unvaccinated children in New South Wales showed that between one or two in every 100 children would need to go to hospital and about one in 1,000 would end up in intensive care and about one in 3,000 will develop the series inflammatory condition PIMS-TS after having COVID.
‘We expect those numbers to be lower with the Omicron strain, but it’s still not entirely a benign disease. And while some children are more at risk from a more severe disease, particularly those kids with serious underlying medical problems who are immunosuppressed, who are very young.
COVID can be a severe disease in a small number of children
‘About a third of kids who ended up in hospital didn’t have any risk factors. So COVID can be a severe disease in a small number of children. So it’s worthwhile getting the best protection you can and that’s getting vaccinated.
‘As of today, there are a small number of children in hospital and only a few in intensive care units because of COVID. There are no vaccines for children under five years of age. These are in development around the world and are being tested to make sure they are safe and effective.
Dr O’Meara said the best way of preventing protecting children under five years of age is by everyone else in the family who can get vaccinated to get vaccinated. ‘While we might be thinking COVID vaccine the good idea for kids get themselves may have a bit of hesitancy and caution about getting a vaccine.
Choices for your kids
Dr O’Meara said there are some great tools that can help people prepare for vaccinating their kids. ‘There’s a lovely video, helping kids with vaccines developed by the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network to talk about how to explain it in language that safe and gentle but also honest, in helping kids prepare about what’s going to happen.
‘What are the steps we’re going to go through? What’s going to happen to me about using the words that are pitched right for a young child about giving you enough warning about what’s going to happen, but not too much about not sharing too much of her own feelings and hesitancy about needles and vaccines with them that make him feel secure about giving him choices to under the left arm your right arm. Do you want to sit on mom’s lap or do you want to sit on the chair by yourself? Do you want a book or a video? You know or listen to music? And what’s going to make it okay for you to have this done. And then you can think of maybe there’s a small reward that you guys see out afterwards to help make this experience as good as it possibly can be so that whatever happens the child comes away with a positive experience.’
‘There are two vaccines eight weeks apart so try and make the first experience as good as it can be to make the second one even easier.
Dr O’Meara said now is the time to book in for the children’s vaccine. ‘If they’re aged between five and 11. The Health website has got a list of all the GPS, the pharmacies and the vaccine centres.’
Rapid Antigen Tests on the way
With today’s reported figures of over 35,000 news cases of COVID-19 in New South Wales, numbers are starting to become redundant as thousands find they are unable to access tests. Premier Perrottet stressed that unless people feel ill or are a household close contact, to not congest the PCR testing queues. ‘Obviously, there are issues with the significant lines for PCR testing across the state. I appreciate very much the patience that everyone is showing in lining up in those queues.
Rest assured
‘Rest assured, we’re doing everything we can to put downward pressure on that system. We have a number of rapid antigen tests arriving as of next week that will significantly assist, but my clear message today is if you are not required to get a PCR test, please do not line up in that queue. Because we need people who are feeling unwell, who are classified close contact that is somebody who is a member of a household of somebody who is positive with COVID or somebody who is advised by New South Wales Health to get that test to be able to get tested and their turnaround time to be improved.
‘I know that many people are showing great patience, it’s a difficult time but we will get through. And once those rapid antigen tests arrive and I’m very much looking forward to the discussion today with the Prime Minister and other state premiers, in relation to the provision of rapid antigen tests from a New South Wales perspective.
‘We will do whatever we can in working with the Commonwealth government, whether that’s through financial support and distribution, or whatever role the state can play. We want to make sure that every single person who needs a rapid antigen test gets one, particularly as we move through this period of time.
‘If we can continue to be patient as we move through this period, if we can continue to treat everybody with kindness and respect, particularly those health workers, particularly those people on the frontline doing that testing, we will ensure that we get through stronger out the other side.
Northern NSW Local Health District
The NNSWLHD says that 576 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the District to 8pm last night, January 4.
Their media release says that sadly, they are reporting the death of 1 person with COVID-19. ‘A man in his 70s died at the Bupa Aged Care Facility in Ballina. He was not vaccinated. NNSWLHD expresses its sincere condolences to their loved ones.’
There are 26 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with 4 of these in ICU.
New cases by LGA
- Tweed Heads – 240
- Ballina – 102
- Byron Shire – 96
- Clarence Valley – 67
- Lismore – 43
- Richmond Valley – 25
- Kyogle – 3
Recent stories, information and updates regarding COVID-19
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life shows life expectancy in Australia has decreased slightly for the second year in a row. An international team of researchers has found more evidence that COVID-19 came from animals in a Wuhan food market. The lab-leak theory that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – instead of a nearby wet market – was thrashed about in public recently, with the US Senate Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing into Covid-19. Eighteen schools in the Northern Rivers division of Richmond have received $25,000 each as part of the federal government’s School Upgrade Fund, Labor Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said last week. COVID-19 reversed earlier trends toward longer life expectancies. During the pandemic, life expectancies globally dropped by 1.6 years according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. Let’s not forget that Covid-19 is still a big issue in our community with 31,935 cases reported across Australia in the last week – an average of 4,562 cases per day. The Global Carbon Budget is about to be refreshed, giving the world a critical insight into how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are (or are not) progressing. Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport from tomorrow, Wednesday 21 September. SW Police are urging festival-goers at this weekend’s music festival to celebrate in a safe and responsible manner, whilst also being aware of COVID-Safety measures. The Northern NSW Local Health District reports that to 4pm yesterday, Sunday May 22, there were 40 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with one of these in ICU.
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