News location:

Canberra Today 22°/26° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Barr leads the race for ‘effective’ vaccine rate

WHEN it comes to vaccinating, the ACT “continues to be a nation-leaving vaccination jurisdiction”, says Chief Minister Andrew Barr, but he wants to see Canberra fully vaccinated three weeks ahead of the rest of the nation. 

Chief Minister Andrew Barr.

Speaking at today’s (August 21) daily covid press briefing he said: “I’m hoping that Canberra will well exceed the national vaccination targets, in between now and when the nation reaches between 70 and 80 per cent… to get there first and to be well ahead of the nation at the time those decisions are taken to move to the next steps in the national plan.”

He said that at yesterday’s National Cabinet he had raised his concerns about significantly easing restrictions on the day the nation hit its notional 70 or 80 per cent national vaccination coverage.

“It’s important people understand it takes two to three weeks for the vaccines to become effective. You don’t get instant protection when the jab goes in your arm,” he told the press briefing.

“It takes two to three weeks. This needs to be taken into account when we make decisions to move from one stage to the next in the national plan. That movement must reflect the effective vaccination rate, which will lag the headline indicator by about three weeks.

“Decisions on 70 and 80 per cent also need to be based on up-to-date national population data. Not data that is more than a year old. It should also include younger age cohorts as they become eligible for vaccination, particularly 12 to 15 year olds.

 

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews