Huge changes to NSW vaccine rollout with new vax hubs opening and allowing instant access to AstraZeneca for over 40s - as chemists given the green light to hand out jabs
- A total of 112 new cases were recorded on Monday - most in the Fairfield area
- NSW is setting up new vaccination hubs in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong
- Over 40s will soon be able to get the AstraZeneca jab from pharmacies
New vaccine hubs will be set up in New South Wales and over 40s will be able to get the jab from pharmacies as Sydney's Covid outbreak worsens.
A total of 112 new cases were recorded on Monday - most in the Fairfield area - taking the latest outbreak to 678 cases since June 16.
Teachers and aged care workers in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool areas will be priotised for jabs, with a new hub at Fairfield Showground opening on Friday to target them.
A total of 112 new cases were recorded on Monday - most in the Fairfield area - taking the latest outbreak to 678 cases
Vaccination clinics and centres, as well as pharmacies across the state will begin making the AstraZeneca vaccine available to people aged over 40. The date when this will start has not been announced.
Previously, anyone under 60 had to consult their GP before getting the AstraZeneca jab due to a rare risk of blood clots in younger people.
But the outbreak has meant the risk of Covid has increased and the state government wants over 40s to have easier access to AstraZeneca.
Anyone aged 18-39 who wants the AstraZeneca jab can still get it through their GP.
Under 40s are not expected to be eligible for Pfizer until at least September when more supply arrives from overseas.
Meanwhile, two vaccine hubs at Belmont, south of Newcastle, and in the Sydney CBD will open on July 19.
One at Macquarie Fields in Sydney's south-west will open by the end of the July and another will open in Wollongong in August.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: 'In NSW we have always had a sense of urgency about getting jabs in arms, but the current outbreak has shown just how important it is.
'If we get sufficient supply, these new centres will allow NSW Health to vaccinate up to 200,000 people every week.'
Health Minister Brad Hazzard encouraged everyone to book their appointment and get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible to do so.
'We will get through this outbreak if people follow the public health advice, but in the short and long-term, the very best way to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community long term is to get vaccinated,' Minister Hazzard said.
The New South Wales government has also asked the federal government that unused GP Pfizer vaccines are redirected to NSW health hubs to avoid waste.
Monday's triple-figure rise in coronavirus cases is the largest daily increase since April 2020.
There were 34 cases out in the community while infectious compared to the 45 announced on Sunday.
However, Ms Berejiklian said there would have to be zero - or nearly zero - active community cases a day for her to consider easing the lockdown on July 16.
'That is the number that we need to see go down to as close to zero as possible, before we can get advice from Health to say the lockdown can end,' she said.
'It's critical, that's something all of us have a role to play in.'
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said there were now 18 patients suffering from Covid-19 in the state's intensive care units - of which 14 are under the age of 35.
'That is dispelling the notion that you are not going to get sick from Covid if you’re young,' she said.
Two young Sydneysiders proudly wear their lockdown clothing whilst out getting a coffee with their dog in Surry Hills in the inner-city
Dr Chant said the virus was spreading the most rapidly in the south-west Sydney suburbs of Fairfield, Smithfield, Bossley Park, Fairfield Heights, Fairfield West, Wakely, Bonnyrigg, Glenfield and West Hoxton.
She said health officials were also finding an increasing number of cases in the 18 to 20-year-old age group in the south Sydney LGAs of Georges River, Bayside and Sutherland.
'The reason I am reading these locations out is we need to make sure that every member of that community understands that every time they go out of their house for an essential good, they need to assume that someone next to them has Covid,' she said.
She revealed meanwhile residents living in an apartment building in Sydney's east had been confined to their homes for 14 days after eight cases of Covid-19 were found in five of the block's 29 units.
Dr Chant said those in the building who had contracted Covid-19 would be moved by NSW Health into special health accommodation.
Monday's triple-figure rise in coronavirus cases is the largest daily increase since April 2020
