Petition Update

We've had a query about whether this petition was needed now that the TGA has approved the updated Covid-19 JN.1 Pfizer vaccine. The answer is a resounding YES.

Why?

• The TGA has only approved Pfizer’s updated version, with no word or approval on either updated Moderna or the much-needed Novavax vaccines.
• TGA approval does not make Pfizer JN.1 available or even give us a date when it will become available.
• The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) must first recommend to the government that the Pfizer updated version should join the rollout and determine dosage guidelines before it can be made available to the public - will that be before hospitals and workplaces get slammed by the severe new XEC variant driven Christmas wave?
• We have no idea who will have access to Pfizer JN.1 if/when it is approved by ATAGI. It could be approved for all including children or only for the elderly and severely immunocompromised. There are no guarantees it will be widely available.
• The latest news on Novavax is not good: the Department of Health and Aged Care has told SBS News it anticipated the updated jabs would be rolled out in 2024-25, subject to approvals and the supplier confirms this, "Timing of the application is still to be confirmed but we are working towards an approval and supply in time for the Australian 2025 winter," a spokesperson for Biocelect, Novavax's sponsor in Australia, said.
• The latest news for anyone preferring Moderna is even worse: despite Moderna seeking TGA approval for its JN.1 vaccine (which has not been granted), the health department has signalled to the media that it will not join the rollout. 
• This petition calls for urgent, equitable access to a full portfolio of updated Covid-19 vaccines including Novavax - until we have this, we will keep advocating loudly for this for everyone.
• Yes, it’s a positive sign that the TGA has finally approved the Pfizer JN.1 vaccine, but given it just moves to yet another slow process of approval from ATAGI, it is going to be too little, too late. 

The bottom line is that if you want to get vaccinated in Australia tomorrow, your only choice remains a single vaccine (which a significant cohort cannot medically tolerate) which is MORE THAN A YEAR OUT OF DATE and less effective against the latest variants. This is unacceptable and negligent.

It is frustrating to see expert spokespeople in the media talking up the advantages of the new vaccines when we have no access. Prof Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, told SBS News the JN.1 Omicron variant is closely related to the XEC variant. "The closer the match between the vaccine and the circulating variant, the more effective the vaccine is," she said. 

University of Queensland infectious diseases physician Dr Paul Griffin told ABC and SBS News that changes to the virus can lead to immune evasion, which means that immunity generated from past infections or vaccination can be slightly less effective against the mutated virus. He said that the new vaccine will provide good levels of coverage against the new strain because it's a "closely related" sub-variant. Dr Griffin expects the new Pfizer JN.1 vaccine will provide "increased protection compared to the previous vaccines we’ve been using”. The problem here is the lesser protection is not the previous vaccine in Australia, it’s our only current vaccine which the rest of the world binned months ago. It is damning that he could only cross his fingers and look forward to “the JN.1 boosters that HOPEFULLY we'll have soon”.

As we face our usual Christmas covid wave, this year with the severe XEC variant which is causing severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths overseas already, why don’t Australians have access to a full portfolio of up to date Covid-19 vaccines like the federal government promised after the Halton vaccination review? Why is it that Australians only have access to one vaccine that is a year out of date when so many countries offer their citizens the latest and most effective Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax vaccines? And given the evidence that children are suffering long term effects of repeated Covid-19 infections, why doesn’t the government provide Australian children with vaccine protection like many other countries around the world? The US, UK, Europe, Singapore, Canada and many others have already approved and made the updated vaccines available to citizens.

Meanwhile in Australia, the last time Health Minister Mark Butler posted about Covid-19 vaccines was a year ago …

Reminder: if you need a Covid-19 vaccine booster in Australia tomorrow, your only option is an outdated Pfizer XBB which is more than a year old and not an effective match for the current variants. There is no Moderna and there is no Novavax. Children cannot be vaccinated at all unless severely immunocompromised. Those for whom mRNA vaccines are medically contraindicated continue to have no access to a tolerated vaccine and there is no plan to expedite access before next winter.

A huge thank you to everyone who has signed and shared already. Please join with Cleaner Air Collective to continue to push to get as many signatures as possible, by sharing it on social media and in online groups, emailing to supportive friends and family and starting conversations about our lack of up to date vaccines, in stark contrast with the rest of the world.

This petition’s call is just as relevant as when we launched it several weeks ago and needs your support.