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Well, a bit has happened in the last 24 hours. I'm going to try to pull it all together in a thread. Starting with this: Pfizer is now the preferred vaccine for people aged under 50 putting the timing of Australia’s rollout is in doubt https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/astrazeneca-vaccine-blood-clot-incidents-spark-pfizer-recommendation-for-under-50s-20210408-p57hnd.html
What do we know about this rare but serious clotting disorder that's been reported in some people after they get an AstraZeneca vaccine? @MeljCunningham explains: https://www.theage.com.au/national/what-we-know-so-far-about-blood-clots-linked-to-astrazeneca-vaccine-20210408-p57hg6.html
And @liammannix takes a deeper dive into how experts work out if a side effect is linked to a vaccine, and how to think about it: https://www.theage.com.au/national/how-to-think-about-astrazeneca-and-this-rare-clotting-syndrome-20210406-p57gwc.html
What does that mean for CSL, which has been contracted to make 50m doses of AstraZeneca? And what about Novacvax? @BevanShields reports CSL is keen to stick to its plans, and Novavax will begin delivering doses from September https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/vaccine-maker-csl-wants-to-stick-to-contract-amid-astrazeneca-fallout-20210409-p57how.html
So what does all this mean for Australia's goal of having the country vaccinated by October? Well, Rob Harris writes even December may be optimistic. "This will have dramatic consequences on many facets of our daily lives." https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/astrazeneca-vaccine-decision-will-have-dramatic-consequences-on-our-daily-lives-20210408-p57ho7.html
For a peek into how the Australian Technical Advisory Group came to their decision, check out this thread (Allen Cheng heads the group): https://twitter.com/peripatetical/status/1380155287747842058
