Liz Bell
LOCAL doctors are urging residents to have confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine program as vaccination rates plummet and “misinformation” about safety spreads.
Registered vaccination clinics and GPs across Wellington Shire have reported a drop in the number of patients seeking the vaccination since it was revealed that unusual blood clots had developed in a small number of people who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The rare disorder has resulted in a change of advice from health authorities, who no longer recommend AstraZeneca for Australians aged under 50.
At its height of up to 200 vaccinations a day, the Wellington Respiratory Clinic is now down to vaccinating 50 to 100 a day.
Clinic doctor David Monash said vaccine-related clotting in some patients in Europe and two confirmed cases in Australian had given ”anti vaxxers” and certain elements of the media the ammunition to “spread false information” and derail the vaccination program.
Dr Monash said the exaggeration of the risks had caused uncertainty in the general population, causing some people who should be receiving the vaccine to now hesitate.
“There has been a lot of bad publicity and people don’t know what to do,” he said.
“We have had people who swear they’ll never get the vaccine now, so we have to get the right message out and restore confidence.”
At the Wellington Respiratory Clinic, specially trained staff are vaccinating between 50 to 100 patients a day.
The clinic is on the verge of opening a new vaccination facility next door to its Inglis Street premises so it can potentially vaccinate up to 300 people per day.
Dr Monash said people should resist the urge to panic and stop “misreading” the risks associated with AstraZeneca.
“This is standard practise to advise people of side effects, but people are misreading this,” he said.
Dr Monash said the vaccine had come under intense scrutiny, and that “politics” was clouding the debate.
“You have more chance of winning the lottery that developing blood clots, but parts of the media and the anti vaxxers have overblown this,” he said. “It’s safe and it’s necessary.”
Other GP practices in the shire are also experiencing a drop off in eagerness to be vaccinated.
While not wanting to reveal numbers, a spokesperson for Stratford Medical Centre said there had been a substantial fall in vaccination bookings and enquiries since news emerged about the blood clotting illness.
“People are still getting the vaccine, but it really has dropped off because of the misinformation,” she said.
At the Johnson Street Clinic in Maffra, which is only vaccinating current patients at this stage, numbers have also fallen and patients are questioning more, according to practice manager Karen Gray.
“We did have a couple who took their names off the booking list once the blood clotting news was in the media,” she said.
“But we continue to get interest and we are vaccinating any of our patients who fit the criteria and want the vaccine.”
Sale GP anaesthetist and president of the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria, Rob Phair, said the association encouraged everyone to book in for their COVID vaccines as soon as eligible, and discuss their options with their GP.
“All of our patients have different needs – so as GPs we’re having lots of different conversations,” he said.
“The Astra Zeneca vaccine remains highly effective against death and severe illness, and it’s also the only vaccine that is available to most Australians right now.”
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have called on the media to stop spreading ‘misinformation’, with the AMA adding that any reporting of unconfirmed vaccine side effects or complications could have a devastating effect on public confidence.
The RACGP said the latest developments were putting additional stress and strain on general practices, as patients cancelled appointments and sought urgent clarification.
RACGP president Dr Karen Price said practices across Australia were receiving calls from people eligible to receive the vaccine under phase 1b cancelling their appointments.
“These are uncertain times and I understand why the latest changes to the vaccine rollout may be confusing for some people,” she said.
“But we must hold the line and keep faith in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.”
Gippsland Times editor and Sale resident Julianne Langshaw said three generations in her family had been vaccinated, with either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine.
“My parents, myself and my two daughters, who are health care workers, have all been vaccinated and haven’t had any significant problems,” she said.
“My parents and I were fine; my daughters had some aches and pains and headaches, but symptoms like that are not unusual with any vaccine.”
As COVID deaths pass three million worldwide, Ms Langshaw said she was continuously frustrated at hearing comments from people saying COVID had been “blown out of proportion” by the media.
“Look at what has been happening in places like Brazil, India, Europe and the United States,” she said.
“It’s not unusual in many nations for most people to know someone who has died of COVID.
“We don’t have any magical, special immunity in Australia – we’ve only been able to manage it here is because we are an island and we’ve had the wealth to take the necessary actions.
“We’ve been lucky, but we can’t isolate ourselves from the rest of the world indefinitely.
“At the moment, the only long term answer we have now is vaccination – that’s just the reality.”
In Europe and the United Kingdom, where close to a massive 30 million vaccinations have been delivered, there have been about 80 cases of the blood clotting disorder in the past three weeks, mainly in women aged under 60 within two weeks of vaccination.
On Wednesday, Denmark became the first country to drop the AstraZeneca from its vaccination program altogether.
And in Australia, a 44-year-old Melbourne man and a woman in her 40s have been treated for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which has generally occurred in veins in the brain and the abdomen and arteries, together with low levels of blood platelets and sometimes bleeding.
Federal health officials are also investigating Thursday’s death in New South Wales of a 48-year-old from blood clots.
The woman had received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and is believed to be diabetic and had other health issues. A conclusive link to the vaccine has not been established, although is considered likely.
The Therapeutic Goods Association of Australia is still recommending that all eligible people who fit the criteria get vaccinated, noting that the benefit-risk ratio of vaccinating with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine increases rapidly with increasing age over 50 because mortality and life-threatening illness from COVID-19 infection increases dramatically with age.
While the Australian government’s vaccination program is still being rolled out in phases and includes AstraZeneca, last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government had signed contracts for another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will arrive from October.
To check vaccine eligibility or which medical centres to go visit health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-checker.
