The Vaccine rollout will happen in 5 stages. Below is the COVID-19 vaccine national
roll-out strategy:

• Priority frontline health care workers, staff who work in:
  • direct clinical care to COVID-19 positive individuals
  • COVID-19/Infectious Disease Wards
  • Emergency Departments
  • Intensive Care Units
  • Queensland Ambulance Service frontline responders
  • Fever and Respiratory Clinics
  • public and private (international) aeromedical retrieval teams
  • pathology staff, medical researchers and scientists working with SARS-CoV-2
• Priority quarantine and border workers:
  • staff who work in quarantine facilities including workers who deliver health services, personal services, security services, all front and back of house hotel and cleaning services, and passenger transport services
  • staff who work in air and sea border security including relevant Australian Federal
    Police and Queensland Police Service staff
  • Queensland residents working in international air crew
  • marine pilots
• Aged care and disability care workers (vaccination rollout managed by the Australian Government Health department)
• Aged care and disability care residents (vaccination rollout managed by the Australian Government Health department)

Adults with Higher Risks

• elderly adults aged 70 years and over
• other health care workers 
  • All workers in Queensland Health facilities who have contact with the public. As a guide this includes:
    • clinical staff including assistants
    • interpreters
    • volunteers
    • laboratory staff
    • ancillary staff such as administrative staff, IT support, kitchen staff, cleaners, maintenance, hospital retailers, security
    • contractors, locum and agency staff
    • health professional students on placement.
  • Queensland Health Healthcare workers including students and support staff who have contact with the public in all other settings.
  • Healthcare workers in private practice
  • Any other healthcare workers not employed by Queensland Health
• disability and aged care workers 
  • Essential carers (paid and unpaid) including carers who are also family members of someone with disability or an elderly person
  • Individuals not already vaccinated who have contact with clients in any care setting (e.g. residential facility, in-home, short-term out-of-home, respite, community care, centre-based care and leisure settings)
  • Individuals who are volunteers and provide support to a person with a disability or elderly person in any care setting
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 50
• younger adults with a specific underlying medical condition, including those with a disability 
  • Who have a moderate risk of severe illness from COVID-19 if you have:
    • adult survivors of childhood cancers
    • a non-haematological cancer (diagnosed in the last 12 months)
    • some chronic inflammatory conditions and treatments other primary or acquired immunodeficiency
    • severe mental health conditions
    • chronic renal (kidney) failure
    • heart disease (coronary heart disease or failure)
    • chronic lung disease (excludes mild or moderate asthma)
    • diabetes
    • severe obesity with a BMI ≥ 40 (kg/m2)
    • chronic liver disease
    • some neurological conditions (stroke, dementia, other)
    • poorly controlled blood pressure
    • Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.
  • Who have a high risk of severe illness from COVID 19 if you:
    • have had an organ transplant and are on immune suppressive therapy
    • have had a bone marrow transplant in the last 24 months have haematological diseases or cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma
    • are on immune suppressive therapy for graft versus host disease.
• critical and high risk workers including defence, police, fire, emergency services, meat processing and other industry groups 
  • Emergency service personnel (paid and unpaid) who have contact with the public. Workers include:
    • police
    • fire
    • emergency services
    • surf life savers
    • marine rescue
    • Queensland Corrective Services including Youth Detention Centres.
  • Licensed meat processing workers:
    • Abattoir workers, including attending veterinarians
    • Workers in boning rooms
    • Smallgoods manufacturers
    • Cold chain transport workforce
    • Seafood processing
  • Workers at international airports
  • Maritime industry workers
  • Workers involved in manufacture and distribution/delivery of COVID-19 vaccines
  • Active Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and Australian Government officials about to be deployed or currently deployed overseas on official government business
• household contacts of quarantine workers, border workers and healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of having contact with COVID-positive patients

COVID-19 vaccine update

On 17 June 2021, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) updated their recommendation that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the preferred vaccine for people under 60.

Queensland Health is currently working through implementing this changed advice and the rollout information will be updated soon.

If you are aged between 50-59 and have already booked to receive your first AstraZeneca vaccine at your local health provider, we recommend that you speak to your GP if you have any concerns.

Adults with Moderate Risks

• Adults aged 60-69 years
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18-49
• Other critical and high risk workers

COVID-19 vaccinations are voluntary and will be bulk-billed.

You will need to arrive at least 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment time to complete any relevant paperwork, if not done online.

When it is your turn to get vaccinated, you can call us on 1300-4-AMTAN (1300-4-26826) or book your appointment online.

You will need to book your appointments to get your first and second doses of the vaccine 12 weeks apart.

You can also book online. Make sure you book an appointment for your first and second doses. Please give us a call before your vaccination appointment, you should make sure your details are up to date with Medicare.

Please do not come to your vaccination appointment:

• If you are in quarantine.
• If you have had another vaccine, for example the influenza vaccination, in the 14 days before your COVID-19 vaccine appointment, please let us know as we may need to reschedule your appointment.
• If you are feeling unwell with fever, cough, runny nose or other symptoms that could be from COVID-19
• If you are waiting for COVID-19 test results, or have tested positive for COVID-19
• If you are a close contact of someone with COVID-19.

To keep you and our community safe, before and after vaccination, it is important that you continue to:

• Stay 1.5 metres away from other people and avoid handshakes and contact with people outside your household.
• Stay home if you feel unwell and get tested for COVID-19. You must stay at home until your results come back.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or use hand sanitiser.
• Always cough or sneeze into your arm or a tissue and put the tissue in the bin straight away.
• Download the COVIDSafe app to help health officials let you know if you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19.

Some people may experience mild side effects after getting the COVID-19 X vaccine. Mild side effects of mild and don’t last for long. If you have a side effect that worries you please call the clinic and book an appointment with your doctor.

Most side effects are mild and don’t last for long.

Common reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations include:

• A sore arm
• Headache
• Low level fever
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Tiredness, or
• Joint pain.You can use the COVID-19 vaccine side effects symptom checker here:
  (Click here for link: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/covid-19-vaccine-side-effect-checker) if you have concerns about any symptoms after your vaccine. The checker is also available through the National Coronavirus Helpline, 1800 020 080, 24 hours a day.

The vaccine will be adminstered in 2 doses, staged 12 weeks apart. At the time of your first consulation, you will be booked in for your second appointment.

After your COVID-19 vaccination, it is important that you continue to protect those around you by:

• Washing your hands regularly with soap and water
• Keeping 1.5m from others
• Making sure the COVIDSafe app is active on your phone
• Staying informed about local restrictions.

COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is a vaccine that can prevent people from becoming ill from COVID-19. COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca does not contain any live SARS-CoV-2 virus, and it cannot give you COVID-19. It contains the genetic code for an important part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus called the spike protein. The spike protein has been inserted into a harmless common cold ‘carrier’ virus (an adenovirus). The adenovirus carrier brings the spike protein into your cells so that they can read it and make copies of the spike protein. Your immune system will then learn to recognise and fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The adenovirus has been modified so that it cannot replicate once it is inside cells. This means it cannot spread to other cells and cause infection.

You should not receive this vaccine if you have had:
anaphylaxis (a type of severe allergic reaction) to a previous dose of the same
COVID-19 vaccine, or anaphylaxis after exposure to any component of a COVID-19 vaccine.

A combination of several clinical trials showed that COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is effective in preventing COVID-19 in people aged 18 years and older. People who had two doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca were about 62-70 per cent less likely to get COVID-19 than people who did not get the vaccine. Because of the small number of people
aged 65 years or older included in the trial, we are not as sure if the vaccine is equally effective in people over the age of 65 years compared with younger adults. However, none of these older people who received the vaccines got severe COVID-19 disease or required hospital treatment. Early experience in Scotland showed that COVID-19 vaccination was
effective in preventing older people requiring hospital treatment for COVID-19, and most of them received COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. More data on the effectiveness of this vaccine in older adults is expected to be available soon.

Protection against COVID-19 starts from about 3 weeks after the first dose of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. While one dose may give some protection, it may only last for the short-term up to about 12 weeks. The second dose boosts antibody levels and is likely to prolong the duration of protection. In the clinical trial described above, the vaccine appeared to be more effective when people had a longer interval between the 2 doses. This is why it is better to receive 2 doses about 12 weeks apart. No vaccine is 100 per cent effective, so it is possible that you can still get sick from COVID-19 after vaccination.
We do not know how long the protection from COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca will last after completing the two doses. We will learn more about this over time.
We currently do not know how effective COVID-19 vaccines are at preventing spread of the virus. This means that SARS-CoV-2 could potentially still infect a vaccinated person. Even if they have no symptoms or only mild symptoms they could still pass it on to others.
This is why it is important to continue other preventative measures like:

• Physical distancing
• Hand washing
• Wearing a face mask

COVID-19 testing and quarantine/isolation as required by your state/territory.
If you have been vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, you should still get a COVID-19 test if you have symptoms that meet testing criteria according to your local health authority (e.g. fever, cough, sore throat).

People with certain conditions may need additional precautions such as staying for 30 minutes of observation after having their vaccine or consulting an allergy specialist. Tell your immunisation provider if you have had:

An allergic reaction to a previous dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or to an ingredient of the vaccine
anaphylaxis to other vaccines or to other medicines. Your provider can check to ensure there are no common ingredients with the COVID-19 vaccine you are receiving
a mast cell disorder.

If you have a bleeding disorder or you are taking a blood-thinning medication (anticoagulant), tell your immunisation provider. Your immunisation provider can help determine whether it is safe for you to have an intramuscular injection, and help to decide the best timing for injection.

People with immunocompromise includes those who have a medical condition that weakens their immune system. It also includes those who may be taking medications that suppress their immune system.

The Australian Government strongly recommends people with immunocompromise receive COVID-19 vaccination. COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca does not behave like a ‘live vaccine’. The adenovirus carrier has been modified so that it cannot replicate or spread to other cells, and it cannot cause infection. It is safe in people with immunocompromise.
People with immunocompromise, including those living with HIV, have a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, including a higher risk of death.

Clinical trials for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca did not include people with immunocompromise. A clinical trial is being conducted of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca given to people with stable HIV infection, with results expected in a few months. We do not know if COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is as effective in people with immunocompromise compared to the rest of the population. It is possible that COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca might not be as effective in people with immunocompromise as it is in the general population. It is important to continue other preventative measures such as physical distancing after vaccination.

If you are breastfeeding, you can have COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. You do not need to stop breastfeeding after vaccination.

Pregnant women are not routinely recommended to have COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, but can consider vaccination:

If they are at higher risk of getting COVID-19, for example due to their occupation, or

If they have risk factors for severe illness, for example due to pre-existing medical conditions.

If you are pregnant, your healthcare provider can help you to assess the benefits and risks of vaccination.

If you have ever had COVID-19 in the past, tell your immunisation provider. Your provider may advise to wait for up to six months after recovery before having a COVID-19 vaccine. If you have ongoing illness from COVID-19, discuss the best timing of vaccination with your treating doctor.

For more information on TGA’s COVID-19 vaccine approval process visit: www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-vaccine-approval-process

For the latest COVID-19 vaccine updates visit: www.health.gov.au/covid19-vaccines

For the latest official coronavirus news, updates and advice from the Australian Government visit: www.australia.gov.au

Yes, this vaccination is bulk billed.

Australians can already access their immunisation history statement through Medicare for proof of vaccination, both digitally and in hard copy, if required.

Statements can be viewed on an individual’s Medicare online account or via the Medicare app.

Your immunisation history statement will record your COVID-19 vaccinations, following each dose.