With the Pftizer and BioNTech vaccines already receiving FDA approval and the Moderna just days away, the possibility of getting a COVID shot is getting closer and closer to reality every day, so when exactly will we get our jabs?
Despite vaccines being approved like hotcakes right now, Australia remains firm on their plan not to roll-out the vaccine until March, which gives us three months to make sure everything is running smoothly before we get the jab.
“We’re not going to lose anything by immunising people in March next year, we may gain something by seeing what’s happening around the world,” vaccine expert Tony Cunningham told the ABC.
According to documents obtained by the Herald Sun, Australians will be broken into five-year age groups to receive their vaccine, mirroring the strategy used in the United Kingdom.
First up, for obvious reasons, Australia’s 800,000+ healthcare workers will get first dibs on the vaccine. You know, because they’re the ones caring for our sick asses if we end up in ICU.
The next Australians to get jabbed will be those over 70, obviously being a high-risk category.
After that, they’ll work backwards from 70 to slowly vaccinate (hopefully) a majority of the lower-risk population.
Unfortunately for anyone under 18, it doesn’t look like kids will be jabbed at all next year, with pharmaceutical companies not seeking approval for use in children just yet.
The government is also reportedly expected to include a number of other “essential” workers to cop a vaccine fast-pass, including police and emergency services workers, as well as prisoners and people living in crowded spaces. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.
Australia has secured 134 million doses of various vaccines so far, so provided they all pass trials and actually work, there should be enough to go around.
“The goal and the expectation is that Australians who sought vaccination will be vaccinated within 2021,” Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement back in November.
“There are no surprises, health and aged care workers and the elderly and vulnerable will be the first to gain access to a vaccine that’s deemed safe and effective.”
Obviously, nothing has been finalised yet, and we won’t have official confirmation until the government rolls out the immunisation plan in late January 2021. But basically, if you’re in your early 20s and you’re not an essential worker, your chances of yeeting off overseas early next year are looking slim.
Essentially, that passport that’s been gathering dust in your filing cabinet probably won’t be getting much of a workout in 2021.
