The state government has banned residents under the age of 50 from getting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The state government has banned residents under the age of 50 from getting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The decision comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday received recommendations from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on immunisation.
The ATAGI recommended the Pfizer vaccine be "preferred" over the AstraZeneca one in people aged under 50, who face a very rare risk of developing blood clots.
WA Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson said that from Friday, AstraZeneca vaccinations will only be given to those over 50.
"People under 50 who are booked in to receive their AstraZeneca vaccine will have their appointments cancelled," he said in a statement.
People in the 1a and 1b vaccination program cohorts - including health workers - who are under 50 and have already received their first AstraZeneca vaccine, should "not be alarmed" and proceed to their second jab.
"You should not cancel your second vaccination booking," Dr Robertson said.
WA Premier Mark McGowan will on Friday join his interstate counterparts and Mr Morrision for a national cabinet meeting to discuss the national vaccine rollout.
Yesterday's advice derails the federal government's October rollout target with the immunisation effort not likely to be completed until 2022.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the program would be recalibrated over the weekend as officials come to grips with the new development.
"The overall impact of this on the timetable of the rollout, it is far too early," he told reporters just minutes after receiving the advice on Thursday night.
Australia was relying on AstraZeneca jabs to be the backbone of coronavirus immunisations through 50 million locally produced doses.
Labor has lambasted the government for failing to secure more deals with other vaccines successfully being rolled out to millions of people worldwide.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese described the rollout as a debacle and demanded certainty about when Australians would be vaccinated.
"This government has failed. This government couldn't run a choko vine up a back fence," he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the government's vaccine portfolio, arguing the AstraZeneca change was made out of an abundance of caution.
"We'll get through it. We'll protect everybody," he told ABC radio.
"There will be some adjustments but we'll keep everybody safe and we'll get them vaccinated."
More people under 50 will now receive the Pfizer jab with health workers pushed to the front of the queue.
But Australia has a contract for only 20 million doses - enough for 10 million people - and less than one million have been delivered.
The government's immunisation advisory group made the cautious decision after blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine were mostly associated with younger people.
The reaction has appeared in four to six people for every million to receive the jab, with a 25 per cent death rate for people who develop the syndrome.
A man in his 40s who was admitted to hospital in Melbourne is the only person in Australia to develop the problem.
People who have already received their first dose of AstraZeneca have been given the green light for a second jab with clotting only detected after the first shot.
Others under 50 could also be administered the jab if consultation with a doctor determined benefit outweighed risk.
AstraZeneca noted Australia's decision factored in having no community transmission of the virus.
"Overall, regulatory agencies have reaffirmed the vaccine offers a high-level of protection against all severities of COVID-19 and that these benefits continue to far outweigh the risks," it said in a statement.
The advice compounds the federal government's headaches with the rollout already under fire for lagging behind most other developed nations.
While 51 million doses of the promising Novavax vaccine could be added to the effort from October, that jab is yet to gain approval anywhere in the world.
State premiers and territory chief ministers will be briefed on the rollout at Friday's national cabinet meeting.
