Clear communication on vaccines is now more vital than ever

Fortunately Australia has been highly successful when it comes to containment, thanks to its efficient management but also, more importantly, public adhesion to social distancing measures and lockdowns. This has been critical in controlling the spread of the virus, and buying us time to implement the best possible treatments and preventive strategies.

But while the Australian government has followed medical experts' advice based on scientific evidence to contain the pandemic, its recent communication over the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has unfortunately eroded public confidence in the government's strategy.

Vaccination rollout is a rather obscure and complicated process to the general public. It involves a technical assessment of benefits (protection against severe COVID-19 and reduction of the healthcare burden) versus risks (adverse events and toxicity of the vaccine candidate), established through clinical trials and early rollout of the vaccine.

As over 20 million Australians will be vaccinated, it is critical to provide enough supply to GP clinics and hospitals for a rapid rollout. We are racing against the clock - making local manufacturing in Australia the backbone of any possible early and quick vaccine rollout. However, it takes time to ensure high quality-control of a vaccine, and to scale up its production - hence the delay observed in the current rollout. Vaccine manufacturing is not a straightforward process.

While the AstraZeneca vaccine can be manufactured in Australia, we unfortunately don't yet have the capability to manufacture the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. In a highly competitive environment, where many countries are competing for access to vaccines in low supply, getting a Pfizer or a Moderna vaccine will take significantly more time to roll out to the population compared to AstraZeneca.

This partly explains the initial preference for the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia.

In light of these issues with technical assessment and vaccine manufacture, maintaining public adhesion and trust is in my view the most critical part of winning the fight against the virus. This means clearly outlining the challenges, and clearly explaining the cost-benefit ratio of the AstraZeneca vaccine versus other vaccines (or not being vaccinated) to the public. The government's attempt to do this to date has unfortunately undermined public confidence over the government's decisions.

The rather rare but serious recently reported risk of clotting incidents (about 1 in 200,000) eloquently demonstrated the critical role of consumers in helping drive decisions over vaccine rollout in Australia. It also outlined the complexity of the rollout process. Unclear communication surrounding the decision will complicate the work of front-line medical personnel.

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COVID-19 likely won't be fully eradicated, as the virus is adapting. evolving and has the potential to escape our current preventive and curative strategies. I anticipate that annual vaccinations will be required, as we currently experience with the flu, to avoid future outbreaks and contain various mutations of the virus.

Clear communication and transparency are vital so people can make informed decisions, and Australia can maintain public trust and adhesion regarding COVID-19 vaccines and future treatments.