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Katie spoke with Professor Bhavini Patel about Covid booster shots coming to the NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Because we do know that. Obviously, the government has this
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: morning announced as Territorians aged eighteen and over will have
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the opportunity to start booking their COVID nineteen booster shot
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  Speaker 1: appointments well from this morning. So joining me on the
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  Speaker 1: line is Professor Bavini Patel. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, how are you?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? Very well? Thank you. Now, professor, what is the
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  Speaker 1: situation with the booster who's eligible?
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  Speaker 2: So, as you said, any any person over the age
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: of eighteen is eligible for a booster six months after
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  Speaker 2: they received their second dose.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so you do have to wait that six months
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  Speaker 1: after you received your second dose Brevini. Doesn't matter whether
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  Speaker 1: you had the Astrosenica or the Pfizer.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: No, it doesn't matter. So the eligibility is six months
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  Speaker 2: after your any second dose that you received, whether it's Astrasenka,
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  Speaker 2: PISA or now with the other vaccine, the Maderna vaccine
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  Speaker 2: as well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And how come it's not sort of being rolled out
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: to the elderly or the vulnerable first.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it sort of is. If you think about the
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  Speaker 2: campaign that we've had with the different phases. So if
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  Speaker 2: we call all the way back in February, we had
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  Speaker 2: the Phase one A people who were the elderly people
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  Speaker 2: working in quarantine or health and emergency services workers who
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  Speaker 2: had a higher risk of being exposed to COVID. They
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: all got their vaccines early in March, April, and May,
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  Speaker 2: and so by definition they'll become eligible for the booster
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  Speaker 2: six months time. So they will be the first people
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  Speaker 2: who are eligible. And those people are eligible now, which
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  Speaker 2: is why we're encouraging that cohort to make an arrangements
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to have a booster.
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  Speaker 1: And so in terms of you know, for those people
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  Speaker 1: who did have let's say they had the astroseny to
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: begin with six months ago or even longer, is it's
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  Speaker 1: okay to not be sort of going on with the
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  Speaker 1: same type of vaccine for the third shot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So there's some been some really good clinical trials
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  Speaker 2: in the Northern hemisphere that have asked the question about
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: what is the right approach for a booster vaccine program
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  Speaker 2: for COVID nineteen and the studies have shown that using
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: a messenger RNA vaccine like Pfizer, regardless of what your
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  Speaker 2: original vaccine was, is safe and effective as a booster program.
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  Speaker 1: Are they phasing out the astrosenica or is it still
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: being delivered throughout the nation.
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  Speaker 2: AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be available through community pharmacies and
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: general practice, so people now have choice in terms of
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: which vaccine they get for their primary course. So if
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: people haven't had their first and second doses, they now
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  Speaker 2: have a choice of three vaccines. And then those of
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: us who are already fully vaccinated will become eligible if
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  Speaker 2: we're eighteen years and over six months after your second dose.
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  Speaker 1: Be any question that's just come through from a listener,
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  Speaker 1: when are the twelve and over is going to be
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  Speaker 1: eligible for the booster? I know a lot of them
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  Speaker 1: are probably only just received theirs, but when will they
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  Speaker 1: be eligible?
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  Speaker 2: So currently the clinical studies show that in people under
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  Speaker 2: the age of eighteen, the immune system responds really well
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  Speaker 2: to the two two dose course of the vaccine, and
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  Speaker 2: so at this stage there's no studies to show that
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  Speaker 2: that age group will need a booster. But as with
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: everything with the COVID nineteen disease, we're learning lessons every
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  Speaker 2: month and sharing information right across Australia and also with
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: our international colleagues. So at this stage children and young
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  Speaker 2: people under the age of eighteen do not need a booster,
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  Speaker 2: So why.
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  Speaker 1: Is it that those over the age of eighteen actually
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  Speaker 1: need that booster.
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  Speaker 2: That's quite a complicated question, Katie. So in terms of
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  Speaker 2: our immune system, we know as we get older, our
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: immune system, like everything else, doesn't work as well as
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: when we're younger. And the studies are showing that the
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  Speaker 2: risk benefit of needing a booster is required in people
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: over the age of eighteen and not for young people
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  Speaker 2: under the age of eighteen.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I know, I've heard some people in the community say,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you know, well, this is proof that the vaccine doesn't work.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Well, that's an interesting and our so people might know that,
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  Speaker 2: especially people with young kids, that we've got lots of
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  Speaker 2: different vaccines that we use to keep young people and
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  Speaker 2: adults safe from a variety of infectious diseases. And each
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  Speaker 2: vaccine has its own schedule, and so some vaccines you
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  Speaker 2: need two or three doses over a short period of time,
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  Speaker 2: so you know, over six to twelve months, and then
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  Speaker 2: other vaccines you need a much longer period of time
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  Speaker 2: where you give repeated boosters. So if you think about
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  Speaker 2: the influenza vaccine, to protect you from the flu, we
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  Speaker 2: need to have a booster every year.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: With your Teennus vaccine, you need to have a booster
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  Speaker 2: every ten years. For your hepatitis B vaccine, you need
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  Speaker 2: to have a course of three vaccines over a period
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  Speaker 2: of time. So, as I said with the COVID, with
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  Speaker 2: the COVID nineteen disease, because it's a new disease, we're
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  Speaker 2: learning our lessons and so it's not unusual that after
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  Speaker 2: your primary couple of doses for other diseases that you
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  Speaker 2: do need a top up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Bevini, Can I ask or know that we always
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  Speaker 1: get plenty of messages from people wondering where we're at
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  Speaker 1: with the novavax vaccine. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, people are quite interested in a novovac. So you
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  Speaker 2: might recall I think we had a conversation about this
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  Speaker 2: a few weeks. Yeah, and so nothing has changed in
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  Speaker 2: terms of a Australian application from the company that makes novovacs.
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  Speaker 2: As I said last time, the TGA, our Medicines regulator
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  Speaker 2: in Australia did give the green light to the company
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  Speaker 2: to put in an application at the beginning of this year.
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  Speaker 2: The company has not yet put in an application, and
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  Speaker 2: so I would really encourage people who are not yet
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  Speaker 2: booked in for their vaccine that they do that as
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  Speaker 2: soon as possible, because it's unlikely that will get novovacs
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  Speaker 2: registered for use in Australia anytime in the near future
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  Speaker 2: because there's still no application bevini.
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  Speaker 1: From your perspective, how is that role out going at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time? I know that when that mandate
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: was first announced it seemed as though there was a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a rush from some to go and get
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the vaccine. How is the role out going at this point?
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  Speaker 2: So if we have a look at the numbers on
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  Speaker 2: our website, we're tracking at eighty eight percent of Territorians
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  Speaker 2: having received their first dose, which is great. It's been
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  Speaker 2: a great response to the Chief Minister and the Chief
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  Speaker 2: Health Officer's announcements and we're continuing to work right across
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  Speaker 2: the NT community by community, you know, having conversations with
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  Speaker 2: sporting groups, with the multicultural community, with Aboriginal community organizations
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  Speaker 2: to really understand and have individual conversations to understand what
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  Speaker 2: people are still worried about that stopping them from getting
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  Speaker 2: a vaccine and trying to provide that credible and trustworthy
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  Speaker 2: advice to answer those concerns. And you know, we're really
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  Speaker 2: looking to get well into the ninety percent YEP for
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  Speaker 2: fully vaccination, for full vaccinations right across the NT can.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I ask a few callers coming through asking if boosters
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  Speaker 1: are going to be required sort of ongoing, if it's
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  Speaker 1: potentially something that we're going to need every six months
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: or every year.
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  Speaker 2: So at this stage we don't know the answer to that. Christian.
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  Speaker 2: When I say we, I am talking about the medical and
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: scientific collective community. So ongoing studies are happening across the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Hemisphere because we're learning lots of lessons from Europe
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  Speaker 2: and America and the UK. As you know, they're a
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: little bit ahead of us, and so we'll keep an
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  Speaker 2: eye on those studies and if it looks like additional
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: booster doses are required, then we'll certainly review that need.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: In Australia, Beveni obviously had said that there is work
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: underway in some of those different areas, some locations where
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  Speaker 1: people have been hesitantal or they're not wanting to get
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  Speaker 1: the vaccine. Are you finding it frustrating that some territorians
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  Speaker 1: are not listening to the science and not listening to
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  Speaker 1: the medical advice and more going down the path of
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  Speaker 1: listening to things that they're being told on social media.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think. I don't think frustrations the right emotion.
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  Speaker 2: I think I think what we're doing, both in the
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  Speaker 2: health system and also with all those community partners that
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  Speaker 2: I described before, is really having a listening ear and
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  Speaker 2: creating a safe space for people to understand or raise
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  Speaker 2: their concerns with people who understand the science, understand the
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  Speaker 2: clinical impacts of COVID as a serious disease, and then
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  Speaker 2: help people reflect on the benefits of both to themselves,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: their families and the broader anti community of getting the
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  Speaker 2: vaccine well.
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  Speaker 1: Professor Bavini Patel, the vaccine lead here in the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time. I know you're very busy.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having a chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Lovely to talk to you, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you you too,