I just donāt understand why we arenāt using rapid testing more.
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Rapid antigen tests appear to have only recently been approved by the TGA, I would consider that to be a factor
It was approved in early July - nearly 2 months ago. Masks were approved and used more quickly.
Hereās a curfew announcement for Sydneyās declared areas of concern on WSFM.
I think this kind of thing is totally unnecessary and a real buzzkill if youāre listening to the radio as an escape from reality - I mean, who isnāt aware of the curfew and the conditions?
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QLD Update: One locally acquired case - 4 year-old announced yesterday. Dr Young detailing how many people are not using QR check in.
it sounds like the compliance for signing into venues has dropped away too
Their accuracy seems to be a key driver in why regulators (at both a state and federal level) are pushing against them - from reading the following link there are restrictions both from the TGA and some states in their use
https://www.tga.gov.au/legal-supply-covid-19-test-kits
Iād have thought that they would help with some of the testing burdens when you have callouts for testing - if you donāt have symptoms and arenāt a health-identified contact youād do a rapid test first and only get swabbed if you return a non-negative or inconclusive result
No doubt they arenāt as inaccurate but there is definitely a place for them in areas that you suggested
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TGA have issued provisional approval for Moderna for 12+
How long before it arrives?
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So you get 2 vaccinations for COVID-19 then a booster shot ā¦ once? a year every year ?
The vaccines appear to only properly last for 6-8 months, I donāt know if a COVID vaccine just for winter (like the flu vaccine) will suffice with the way it is mutating.
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I have a feeling it will initially be twice a year.
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there was a desire to try and tie it in with the flu shot, its possible that with more time weāll see a vaccine that lasts longer
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I canāt remember the last time Iāve had the flu shot. I havenāt had the shot in my adult life.
Distribution of Pfizer vaccines per state/territory (from Sharnelle Vellaās Twitter)
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I still think more should have went to NSWs and Victoria.
Victoria should at least be leveled out after nsw got the 500,000 polish doses. And the ACT has a strong case too with such a young population.
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Itās too early to know how frequent the boosters are going to be, especially as vaccine manufacturers make potential tweaks as more variants pop up and as the virus gets more endemic / potentially becomes more like the flu in strength.
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A police officer is alleged to have threatened a man going berserk in a Richmond Covid-19 quarantine hotel that he would be āfāing gassedā if he did not calm down and return to his room.
After seeing this video, Iām still very thankful Iāve never had to go into hotel quarantine. You literally donāt get any air from the outdoors for 14 days, how horrible that would be. Itās made me think whether we should scrap hotel quarantine in favour of allowing people to quarantine in their own homes. I think the majority of people would be willing to do the right thing and isolate at their home, strictly not leaving. Implement strong penalties for those who break home quarantine. Use GPS trackers or the like if needed.
Not going to click a herald sun link - but Iām sure everyone will be happy itās a cop doing that and not a security guard. Because as we all remember from last year, cops were the solution to hotel quarantineā¦
The problem with home quarantine is not just ensuring the person stays home, itās isolating them from others. Someone could āhome quarantineā and their GPS, or weird phone tracking app, whatever - it will all pass and be fine - but someone could chuck a party in that circumstance and no one would know - anything like GPS/apps is all just theatre in the end.
Either the level of risk is low enough to trust people to isolate, or itās too high and they need to be in a dedicated facility that has air breaks, where people can exercise - and indeed get their food and medical needs attended to.
I would think right now - if youāre in Sydney itās bloody hilarious you have people from overseas going into hotel quarantine while the cases in the community are drastically higher than the places many people would come from. They should indeed just let people isolate at home for the 14 days in Sydney and let anyone fully vaccinated do so in Victoria/Regional NSW/ACT, proportionate to the background risks of the level of Covid in the community.
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