Children aged five to 11 are set to be eligible to receive the Pizer jab as early as January, following provisional approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.TGA head John Skerritt said children played a “strong role” in spreading the virus to older family member such as grandparents.“The older you are, the impact of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater,” he said.Professor Skerritt also warned even though most children experience mild symptoms of Covid, there are circumstances where children suffer longer-term medical issues.“There’s about 1 in 3000 children who, even though they might not get all that ill with Covid, have this long-term multi-system inflammatory syndrome where even when they recover from Covid, they can be quite ill for some months with fever, rash, intestinal, heart, neurological issues, even though it’s 1 in 3000 of those kids it’s a very serious condition,” he said.Professor Skerritt said some children may experience a temperature, sore arm or feel lethargic 24 hours after the jab, but stressed that “extremely rare” side effects mostly affect people “post-puberty rather than pre-puberty”.VIC RECORDS 1073 NEW CASES, SIX DEATHSVictoria has recorded 1073 new coronavirus cases and six more deaths on Monday.There are 310 people hospitalised with the virus.Of those patients, 45 people are in intensive care, including 19 on ventilation.There were 56,337 tests undertake in the past 24 hours, while Victoria‘s double-dose vaccination rate stands at 91 per cent.On Sunday the state recorded 980 new Covid-19 cases.Premier Daniel Andrews has assured the border with NSW will not be shut, and the state will not be pursuing an aggressive “Omicron zero” strategy to lock out the new Covid-19 variant. “The notion that we try and keep this out forever … that just doesn’t make sense,” he said on Sunday.“We think that’s important not just for the people of Victoria and NSW, but if Victoria and NSW are working closely together, I reckon that’s pretty good for the rest of the country as well.”NSW RECORDS 208 NEW CASESNSW has reported 208 new Covid-19 infections and no new deaths on Monday.There are 152 people in hospital with the virus — 24 in intensive care.Health authorities are continuing to investigate the spread of the Omicron variant, with the state now having recorded 15 cases of the new strain.Of the over 16 population, 92.8 are double-dose vaccinated and 94.6 have received at least one shot.CHRISTMAS TRAVEL PLANS UP IN THE AIRAustralians hoping to travel interstate for Christmas could have their plans thrown into disarray as state and territory leaders consider closing their borders.Restrictions have been reintroduced in a number of states due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has now been detected in NSW, NT and the ACT.There is also a suspected case in Queensland.The strain, which was first identified in southern Africa, has raised the alarm over the vaccines efficacy against new variants. Queensland and WA have thrown their hard border back up to South Australia as a precaution. Arrivals from Adelaide will be required to go into home or hotel quarantine for 14 days. Meanwhile, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall announced people from NSW, Victoria and ACT must be tested on arrival and isolate until they receive a negative result. They will also need to get another test on day six of their stay.Mr Marshall indicated a return to a hard border before Christmas was a possibility.“It may become necessary. I hope it doesn’t,” he told reporters on Sunday. “We would only do that if we wanted to make sure that we still enjoy a Christmas here in SA. This is a balancing act.”Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said she would have “more to say” about the planned opening of the border to NSW and Victoria on Monday. So what does this mean for Christmas travel plans?Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has said he is confident the nation’s high vaccination will limit the spread of Covid-19 over the Christmas holiday period. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Professor Kelly said he would not take a decision to recommend border closures lightly. “Closing borders is a big decision. It’s a decision for government not taken lightly,” Professor Kelly said. “We have all the other measures in place – test, trace and isolate – the public health and social measures, all of those matters we have and crucially, the vaccine, and we are one of the most vaccinated nations in the world right now.”He also warned Australians to prepare for the Omicron variant to overtake Delta as the dominant strain across the world but added there was no evidence to suggest an increase in severity. “This will spread around the world quite quickly. I suspect within the next few months Omicron will be the new virus in the world,“ Professor Kelly said.“We have no evidence at the moment that the vaccine does not work, and as far as we know, the vaccine works against this new virus.”Prime Minister Scott Morrison has put a pause on Australia’s reopening plan until December 15.Existing arrangements will continue for Australians, permanent residents, immediate family (including parents) and other exempt visa holders including travellers through the New Zealand and Singapore travel bubbles.
Powered by WPeMatico
