24 August 2021Every Victorian aged 16 years and over will be...

24 August 2021
Every Victorian aged 16 years and over will be eligible to access a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at state-run vaccination centres from tomorrow, under an expansion of the state vaccine program that will further help Victoria reach its goal of one million doses over five weeks. The change means that from Wednesday 25 August, anyone aged 18 to 59 will be eligible to receive either Pfizer or AstraZeneca – with people aged 16 to 17 able to receive the Pfizer vaccine. Those aged 60 and over will continue to receive AstraZeneca. Over the next four weeks, there will be over 830,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at more than 55 state-run centres operating across Victoria – this includes 450,000 first dose appointments for the Pfizer vaccine. With this new expansion, the number of Victorians eligible to receive Pfizer has increased by 2 million. Approximately 1.7 million Victorians aged 16 to 59 have already been vaccinated across general practice, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, community pharmacy and state vaccination centres. The expansion follows the supply of an additional 175,000 doses of Pfizer from the Commonwealth, recently received from overseas. Anyone aged 18 to 39 who has a current booking for AstraZeneca from Wednesday 25th August who would prefer to receive Pfizer, will not need to cancel or change your booking – you will be offered Pfizer when you arrive for your appointment, unless you would prefer to receive AstraZeneca. The change in eligibility will not occur until tomorrow and the additional bookings will be available online from 7am tomorrow. However, with the number of Victorians aged 18 to 59 still far outweighing the Pfizer doses available from the Commonwealth, the AstraZeneca vaccine will still be available for those who choose to provide consent and discuss their vaccination with a medical professional. The best vaccine you can get is the one that you can get today.