Vaccines are ‘game changers’ for Victoria

Victorian Health Professor Ben Cowie has spruiked the efficacy of both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines as he warns getting vaccinated is Victoria’s only way out of the health crisis. “These vaccines are game changers,” he told the media. “Both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine are highly effective at preventing serious illness, preventing hospitalisation and preventing death. “The real world data coming out of Europe shows us that these are our way out of this situation and they will protect our health system and protect the lives of Victorians as we do so.” Probed on the number of Victorians needed to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, Professor Cowie said the concept was “a complicated one”. “This relates not just to the amount of vaccines we’re delivering, it also comes back to how the difference emerging variants of concern of coronavirus interplay with the vaccine based immunity,” he said. “So I can’t give you a figure and I think anyone who did would be challenging the realms of our understanding at this point in time.” Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au