aged care vaccines

COVID vaccines saved 20 million lives in first year

August 4, 2022 by Madeline Lucre Leave a Comment

The unprecedented rapidity of development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is hailed as “an extraordinary global health feat”.

A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases modelled the spread of the disease in 185 countries and territories between December 2020 and December 2021. It found that without COVID vaccines, 31.4 million people would have died, and that with the vaccines, 19.8 million of these deaths were avoided.

Many more deaths could have been prevented if access to vaccines had been more equal worldwide. Nearly 600,000 additional deaths – one in five of the COVID deaths in low-income countries – could have been prevented if the World Health Organization’s global goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of each country’s population by the end of 2021 had been met, the research found.

The researchers, from the Imperial College London, said: “The inequitable distribution of vaccines prolonged the pandemic, and exacerbated the probability and frequency of the emergence of variants of concern.”

“Provision of vaccine doses from high-income to lower-income countries is therefore not only moral but also pragmatic,” they said.

“The saving of more than 19 million lives by the unprecedented rapidity of development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is an extraordinary global health feat.”

The study highlighted lessons to be learned from the pandemic: improvements in vaccine supply, cold-chain operations, and public confidence.

The science behind COVID-19 vaccines

October 5, 2021 by Madeline Lucre Leave a Comment

In a recent NSWNMA webinar, Dr Jessica Stokes-Parish (PhD, RN), who works in an ICU, and Romy Blacklaw (IPN, RN), a clinical nurse in a COVID-19 vaccination hub, responded to common questions and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines.

Vaccine development

Conventional vaccines can take three to 10 years to develop. In the case of COVID-19 vaccines, researchers and developers, backed by huge private and government funding, were able to work quickly and collaborate globally to develop a safe vaccine. Scientists built on decades of coronavirus research (e.g. SARS and MERS), recent advances in mRNA therapies (for cancer and viruses), and early identification of the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2, to quickly develop potential vaccine candidates.

Vaccine safety

Both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines have had extensive safety testing. No shortcuts were made in what are acknowledged to have been gold standard vaccine trials. Tens of thousands of participants were enrolled in the clinical trials, some of the highest numbers ever seen.

Were COVID-19 vaccines rushed through?

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) provisionally approved COVID-19 vaccines after assessing all available data. Provisional approval is a process that allows temporary registration of promising new medicines and vaccines where the need for early access outweighs any potential risks. The TGA engaged early with pharmaceutical companies about their vaccines, assessing clinical trial data as it became available, rather than at the end of the three clinical trial phases. This sped up the review process.

What are the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines?

The Pfizer vaccine is generally well tolerated by most people, but side effects may include aches, pains and fever. While these effects are not very pleasant, they are a very good sign that your immune system is working. These symptoms are more common in younger people, who generally have more robust immune systems. Side effects are also more common after a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Most side effects occur within 24 hours of getting the vaccine, with symptoms typically resolving within 48 hours. AstraZeneca vaccine has similar side effects. Again, they are more likely to occur in those who are younger, and most side effects occur within 24 hours of getting a vaccine, with symptoms typically resolving within 48 hours.

What about adverse effects?

In any large-scale vaccination rollout, some people will experience a new illness or, sadly, pass away after vaccination. In some cases, these illnesses or deaths will be coincidental, and not caused by the vaccine. The TGA reviews all deaths reported in people who have received the vaccination, to assess whether the death was related to vaccine safety, or a side effect of the vaccine, or related to other causes.

A very rare adverse effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine is a rare type of blood clot – thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). Symptoms include nausea, blurred vision and pain in the head or legs that do not resolve with pain relief like paracetamol, and it is important to talk to your doctor immediately if you have any symptoms, as the condition is treatable. Fortunately, the risk of developing the syndrome is only 0.0002 per cent, based on the UK data.

In safety reports from the TGA, (as of 27 July), doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine given were 6.1 million, with six deaths. That gives a vaccine mortality rate of 0.00009 per cent. In contrast, in the same timeframe there were a total of 33,081 cases of COVID-19 infection in Australia, which resulted in 918 deaths – a case mortality rate of 2.78 per cent.

Vaccine monitoring

After any vaccine is registered and administered to people, experts and regulators continue to monitor vaccine safety in several ways. Australia’s safety monitoring is robust, including passive and active measures of surveillance. This safety information is publicly shared via AusVaxSafety.org.au and TGA.gov.au.

Why two doses of vaccine?

There is strong evidence that a second dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca increases your defence against COVID-19. Clinical trials show the Pfizer vaccine provides 52 per cent protection 12 days after the first dose, with protection rising to 95 per cent after the second dose. AstraZeneca vaccine protection against symptomatic COVID-19 was estimated to be 76 per cent at 22 days after the first dose, rising to 81 per cent when a second dose was given 12 weeks after the first. Pfizer and AstraZeneca both appear to offer less protection against the Delta variant than for the Alpha variant, and a second dose is even more important to protect against Delta.

BREAKOUT

Myths about COVID-19

Myth: the mRNA vaccines alter DNA

This is simply not possible. The mRNA vaccine cannot get into a cell’s nucleus. The flow of information from DNA to RNA to proteins – in that direction only – is one of the fundamental principles of molecular biology. The flow of information cannot go the other way, from mRNA to change DNA.

Myth: COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility and are dangerous during pregnancy

There is no mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines to affect fertility. The safety data on vaccines shows no fertility safety triggers. The animal data showed no fertility issues, and there was also no impact on sperm. On the other hand, vaccination has benefits to pregnancy and breastfeeding. We now have evidence that passive immunity occurs as a mother’s antibodies cross to the milk. Research has also shown immune transfer by the placenta for Pfizer, and the vaccine does not cause problems with the placenta. The COVID-19 disease, however, does cause problems during pregnancy. The risk of COVID-19, particularly the Delta variant, for pregnant people is quite significant. COVID-19 disease increases the likelihood of a preterm delivery, and the risk of pre-eclampsia or eclampsia.

Myth: Vaccines cause viral shedding

Viral shedding refers to a process where virus is shed by an infected person. For a virus to shed, it must be intact and actively reproducing. COVID-19 vaccines are not live; they contain no virus that is capable of reproducing, and the vaccine’s mRNA and viral vector are non-replicating.

Aged care staff cop the blame for vaccine bungling

August 6, 2021 by Madeline Lucre 1 Comment

The Morrison government has used aged care workers as scapegoats for low vaccination rates.

Aged care assistant in nursing Janine Quinn believes the Morrison government’s decision to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for nursing home staff was designed to shift attention away from the government’s own vaccination failures.

The government announced in June that all residential aged care workers must get at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-September.

This was an exercise in “blame shifting” said Janine, who is president of the Mercy Place Albury Branch of the NSWNMA.

“The COVID-19 vaccination rollout has been a classic case of “too little, too late”. The government is desperate because they know they’ve mucked it up,” Janine said.

“All the time, they are trying to shift the blame rather than take responsibility for what they have and haven’t done.”

In February, Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck and Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt jointly announced that the aged care vaccination rollout would take six weeks.

“Vaccination for residents and staff will be made available through residential aged care facilities where they live or work, and it will be administered through an in-reach workforce provider,” Minister Hunt said in a media release on 16 February.

Two thirds of AGED CARE staff unvaccinated

Federal Department of Health data showed that as of 25 June, two thirds of aged care staff nationally had not received a single dose of vaccine.

“The government is putting the onus on individual workers to get vaccinated rather than supplying vaccines at the workplace as promised,” Janine said.

“It (COVID vaccination) is a big issue that aged care staff talk about all the time.

“We get our annual flu shots at work, usually just before starting a shift. The company arranges it and it’s convenient.

“Why couldn’t the government do the same with the COVID vaccine? Some staff at my facility got residents’ leftovers but otherwise we have to make our own arrangements.”

She said nursing home staff are “badly understaffed, burnt out and exhausted.”

“The last thing we want is to have to fight to get an appointment at a doctor or clinic when vaccines – especially Pfizer – are still in short supply.

“One of our members had to drive for an hour to get his first shot,” Janine said. The only day available for his second appointment was a day he worked so he had to take annual leave, which he’s not happy about.

“Members are asking whether they will get paid time off if the COVID vaccine makes them sick. A lot of people got sick from this year’s flu shot and some of them have used up all their sick leave.”

A sense of abandonment

With the NSW/Victoria border again closed, Albury workers like Janine who live in Victoria also have to cope with long traffic queues, which makes it even harder to arrange medical appointments.

She said members were asking why the government made COVID vaccination mandatory for nursing home staff but not visitors, including contractors.

“In aged care across the board, you cannot come into a facility if you haven’t had your flu shot. The flu shot treats everyone equally – why not the COVID vaccination?”

Janine said the public focus on unvaccinated aged care staff would likely make it even harder to attract workers to the sector.

“It’s always been hard to get enough staff and, now that we are more in the public eye following the royal commission, even less people want to work in aged care.

“We have had a lot of people leave the industry recently and management is finding it hard to replace them, which means we will have to work short.

“There’s a sense of abandonment: staff feel that the government is letting them down again and again on so many levels, including lack of staffing ratios and low pay.

“Aged care workers can walk into disability care and get paid $10 an hour more.”

Janine says that despite negative publicity there is strong community support for aged care workers in the Albury district.

“We’ve had a good response to our campaign to win mandatory ratios for nurses in aged care – recently we collected over 200 signatures on a petition in one day.”

Employers, unions tell Morrison: don’t blame workers for your failures

August 6, 2021 by Madeline Lucre Leave a Comment

Aged care providers and the union movement have united to reject the Morrison government’s blame-shifting on COVID-19 vaccination.

Employers and unions are unanimous in saying government failures – not workers – have caused low vaccination rates among nursing home staff.

The Australian Aged Care Collaboration – a coalition of aged care employer groups – joined with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and other unions to issue a joint statement on 8 July.

The statement pointed out that providers and unions have been calling for fast action on vaccinating aged care workers for at least six months.

“However, the government’s aged care vaccine program has too often led to disappointment, frustration, confusion and anger,” it said.

The statement demanded that the government implement five principles in a rollout strategy that would support aged care workers to be vaccinated quickly and safely using the Pfizer vaccine only.

The principles are:

Ensure client, resident and worker safety.
Government-funded workplace vaccination and prioritised
access to vaccination providers near workplaces.
Paid leave to access vaccinations and recover from effects or reactions if needed.
Targeted vaccine education
and communication.
Transparency and accountability on vaccine data and supply.

A smoke-and-mirrors strategy

ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the government told aged care workers at the beginning of 2021 that they were first priority and would receive easy access to the vaccine in their workplace. This did not happen.

“The only way to improve vaccine pick-up is to make it easy for workers, not to shame them,” she said.

“The government has not been able to deliver on its own strategy and is now using a ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ game to pin the responsibility on the worker.

“But as we’ve seen with the latest COVID outbreak in NSW, the vaccine rollout in privately run aged care facilities is not a game. It is completely serious.

“Workers are still not guaranteed access to vaccines, whether on or off-site, and there’s insufficient support or special leave provisions to manage possible side-effects or reactions and the need to take time off.

“The government must finally listen to workers, their unions and providers, and act on our recommendations.”

Federal government ignored solutions

Employer spokesperson Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia, said provider groups have been calling on the government since January to work with the sector to ensure aged care residents and staff were vaccinated as efficiently, effectively and safely as possible.

Mr Rooney told Australian Ageing Agenda it was “extremely frustrating and disappointing” to have the government ignore solutions developed by the sector, including staff being vaccinated on site at aged care facilities.

The government said staff vaccinations would be completed by the end of March this year, but resident vaccinations have just been completed, only a third of aged care home staff have received theirs and it is unclear where home care workers stand, he said.

“The Department of Health has said that staff can get vaccinated at their local GP or a vaccination hub, but this has led to delays. This is not good enough.”

“Stop blaming workers for vaccine failures”: unions and providers tell Govt

July 8, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

Aged care providers and the union movement have united to reject the current blame shifting on vaccination, saying it is government failures that have caused low vaccination rates, not workers.

Providers and unions have been calling for fast action on vaccinating workers within the high-risk sector for at least six months, however the government’s aged care vaccine program has too often led to disappointment, frustration, confusion and anger.

The Australian Aged Care Collaboration – a coalition of peak organisations for aged care employer groups – has joined with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Australian Workers Union, United Workers Union, Health Services Union, Australian Services Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions to demand that the Morrison Government implement the five following principles into a rollout strategy that will support aged care workers to be vaccinated quickly and safely using the Pfizer vaccine only:

Ensure client, resident and worker safety
Government funded workplace vaccination and prioritised access to vaccination providers near workplaces
Paid leave to access vaccinations and recover from effects or reactions if needed
Targeted vaccine education and communication
Transparency and accountability on vaccine data and supply

ANMF Federal Secretary, Annie Butler, said that the group was “angry that the Government is trying to blame workers for its own failure to manage the COVID-19 vaccination rollout both in aged care and across the community”.

“The Government has not been able to deliver on its own strategy, which prioritised aged care workers as the highest priority, and is now using a ‘smoke and mirrors’ game to pin the responsibility on the worker. But as we’ve seen with the latest COVID outbreak in NSW, the vaccine roll-out in privately-run aged care facilities is not a game. It is completely serious,” she continued.

Aged care workers were told at the beginning of 2021 that they were first priority and would receive easy access to the vaccine in their workplace. This did not happen.

Both unions and aged care providers insist that the only way to improve vaccine pick up is to make it easy for workers, not to shame them.

“The Government must finally listen to workers, their unions and providers – and act on our recommendations,” Ms Butler said.

Aged care vaccine rollout “an absolute debacle”

June 1, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

By the end of April, barely 10 per cent of Australia’s 330,000 aged care workers had been vaccinated, though they are classified in the 1a group for the highest priority frontline staff.

Fewer than one-third of aged care facilities had administered both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to their residents eight weeks into the program, as logistics companies fail to deliver the vaccines, health providers fail to show up and the vast majority of workers have no clear access to vaccinations, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.

One major aged care provider told the SMH that the rollout was “an absolute debacle”.

Aged care providers told the SMH that their workers did not have access to the NSW Health-operated hubs that vaccinate the highest priority groups, such as frontline medical workers and hotel quarantine staff, because aged care falls under the federal government. NSW Health confirmed this.

The Morrison government said its initial strategy of inoculating staff at their workplace was “under review”.

The federal government had planned to send dedicated teams to aged care facilities to vaccinate staff and to establish offsite “pop-up” vaccination hubs.

The ACTU said the government walked away from these commitments.

“These workers were told they would be treated with the same urgency and attention as other frontline health staff, but many will end up waiting six months to be vaccinated,” said ACTU Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien.