The provisional approval is for individuals over 16 years of age, with two doses required at least 21 days apart. It is a temporary approval to meet public need, where the benefits of early approval outweigh the risks.
For the very frail – people aged over 85 – the TGA recommends doctors and nurses vaccinate on a “case-by-case basis”, as the potential benefits of the vaccine must be weighed against the risks of exposing a very frail person to the vaccine’s standard flu-like side-effects.
About 80,000 doses will be administered every week from late February and the rate will increase once the doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to be manufactured in Australia – which will peak at 1 million doses a week – can be distributed. The…
