Vaccines wasting away in storage

But, a lack of demand among some parts of the population mean there are now thousands of AstraZeneca doses sitting in government clinics waiting to be used.

Things are particularly bad in Sydney and across regional NSW, where practices are operating at less than a quarter of their capacity.

Recent cases of the rare blood clot disorder linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine has triggered fear and hesitancy among Australians, with doctors working to quell fears about the jab.

The blood clotting condition – thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) – has been confirmed in 21 Australians, with three more possible cases linked to the vaccine.

More than 2.1 million doses have been administered this year.

The slow take-up of the vaccine means Australia is ranked well down the list for doses administered.

The latest figures from Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker says 3.371 million doses have been administered in Australia, meaning only 6.6 per cent of people could have had two doses.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese tweeted the flags of 91 countries today to highlight the countries that have fully vaccinated more of their population than Australia.

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‘Talk to GPs about vaccine concerns’

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners vice-president Dr Bruce Willett told the Sydney Morning Heraldthat vaccine supply continued to be “patchy” across Australia and “most GPs are saying they could be doing more”.

“Vaccine hesitancy is an issue but we are finding with most patients if they talk to their GPs about any concerns, they are much more likely to get vaccinated. People are keen to go ahead and have it with a doctor they know and trust,” Dr Willett said.

“We’d really like to see additional supplies running into GPs. Experience shows that’s where older patients feel most comfortable.”

Health experts continue to warn about vaccine complacency, with Australia needing to reach herd immunity before the nation’s leaders will consider reopening international borders.

One person – a 48-year-old woman from NSW – died from TTS after she received the vaccine however the others diagnosed with the condition were recovering.

Professor Sharon Lewin, one of the nation’s most respected infectious disease experts and the director of the Doherty Institute, has repeatedly urged Australians to embrace AstraZeneca.

Doctors have learnt how to easily recognise and treat cases of TTS, she said.

“We know how to diagnose them and we know how to treat them,” Prof Lewin said.

“We did not know that six weeks ago and that’s why we are seeing milder presentations now and there will be better patient outcomes.”

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Take-up slow around the country for AstraZeneca jab

Two respiratory clinics in Sydney’s west had the facilities and staff to deliver 2000 doses a week, but were currently only getting 200-250 AstraZeneca shots booked in over two days each week.

“We’ve been sending flyers to local GPs letting them know we have availability and it definitely picked up again once people aged over 50 could be vaccinated,” Dr Dong Hua said.

Things aren’t any better in the country, with Wagga Wagga Respiratory Clinic falling 900 short of the 1200 shots it could administer each week.

And in Tamworth, doctors are vaccinating 160 a week, when they could be doing 1000.

On the other side of the coin, in the north of Sydney at Maxim Family Medical Practice, GP Brendon Wong said they had more than 200 people on the waiting list to get the AstraZeneca jab.

“We have nurses and doctors ready to go. The demand is still high, we just need more doses,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

NSW gave its one millionth shot of coronavirus vaccine yesterday, with the state delivering more and more doses every day.

“NSW Health administered its highest number of vaccines in one day with 11,950 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including 5171 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park,” the organisation said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has repeatedly said she would need to see at least five million adults in her state – 10 million doses – vaccinated against coronavirus before she started talking about opening international borders.