Shopping centres, stadiums and drive-thru hubs could be the next places to roll out Covid vaccines as NSW desperately tries to ramp up jabs to end lockdown
- The federal government updated its Operation COVID Shield vaccine campaign
- Drive-through hubs in stadium car parks could be established mid-August
- Vaccinations at workplaces are expected to begin in late September
- Retail pilot involving shopping centres and supermarkets could start in October
Australians could soon receive coronavirus jabs at drive-through hubs, stadiums and shopping centres under an expanded vaccination rollout.
The federal government's updated Operation COVID Shield vaccine campaign includes plans for more mass vaccination sites, which could also include supermarkets and conference centres.
Drive-through vaccination hubs in stadium carparks could be trialed this month before being widely used in October.
Under the federal government's updated Operation COVID Shield vaccine campaign, stadiums and shopping centres may be used as new vaccine hub locations
Jabs at workplaces are slated to start in late September before operating in most states and territories by the end of November.
The Commonwealth Bank and Westpac will trial AstraZeneca vaccinations for staff and their families in Sydney's hot spots from as soon as next week.
A retail pilot, which would include shopping centres and supermarkets, could be up and running in October.
Wesfarmers - which owns Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks - offered its sites for mass vaccination hubs last month during a meeting with senior government figures.
Vaccine rollout commander John Frewen said these new introduction of hubs would help reach the goal to offer all Australians a vaccine by the end of the year.
Schools could also be used from December under state and territory government-run programs if experts approve Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.
Vaccine rollout commander John Frewen said the measures would help reach the goal to offer all Australians a vaccine by the end of the year.
'What I would really like to see as we get late in the year is the maximum convenience available for people in Australia to get vaccinated,' he told the ABC.
A retail pilot, which would include shopping centres and supermarkets could be up and running in October with schools also used from December if Pfizer gets the approval for 12-15 year olds
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has released modelling underpinning a national cabinet in-principle agreement for reopening.
The Doherty Institute report, adopted by federal and state governments, recommends immunising younger adults to cut risks of transmitting coronavirus.
The institute's epidemiology director Jodie McVernon said the focus can now be on reducing spread across the population as many older and vulnerable people were now already vaccinated.
'What we're advising now is a strategic shift to maximise those benefits by moving to younger groups who are key spreaders of infection,' she told ABC radio on Wednesday.
The Doherty Institute's epidemiology director Jodie McVernon recommends immunising younger adults to cut risks of transmitting coronavirus
Professor McVernon said maintaining high vaccination rates in over-60s coupled with immunising younger people to reduce the risk of new outbreaks could halve the disease burden.
The modelling was based on the continuation of testing, tracing and quarantine alongside low-level social distancing when 70 per cent coverage is achieved.
In the first 180 days of an outbreak 16 people would be expected to die even with such strong measures in place, but that toll could reach almost 2000 if they were relaxed or dropped.
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Prof McVernon said deaths were inevitable once Australia moved to open up more, but the only alternative was permanent rolling lockdowns.
'We're not going to lie about that but the reality is we can't avoid COVID forever,' she said.
Australia's leaders are gunning for a 70 per cent target to significantly reduce the prospect of major lockdowns and 80 per cent to all but end city-wide shutdowns.
Almost one-in-five people over 16 have received both doses of a vaccine.
NSW recorded 233 cases of local transmission on Wednesday, while there were 16 new infections in Queensland taking the latest cluster to 47.
Australia's leaders are gunning for a 70 per cent target to significantly reduce the prospect of major lockdowns and 80 per cent to all but end city-wide shutdowns.
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