COVID Bulletin - 15 February 2022

These bulletins contain the latest updates on COVID-19 and the national rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Australia.

These updates are current as at Tuesday 15 February 2022.

The RACGP’s COVID-19 vaccine information for GPs and COVID-19 information for GPs webpages are updated as new information becomes available.

Pre-placement of COVID-19 antivirals in high-priority settings

Pre-placement of the new COVID-19 antiviral medicines Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir) and Lagevrio (molnupiravir) has begun in high-priority settings for the treatment of COVID-19 in eligible patients.

Initial supply of the medicines is limited to residential aged care facilities (RACFs), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities via Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisations (ACCHOs) and disability care settings. Allocations of Lagevrio have been pre-placed in all RACFs across Australia. ACCHOs have received allocations of both Paxlovid and Lagevrio.

The National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce has released treatment recommendations for both Paxlovid and Lagevrio.

Both medicines require a prescription from a GP, physician or a nurse practitioner who meets the prescribing requirements before they can be issued.

The RACGP will release written guidance on the medicines later this week, which will be available, along with all other COVID-19 resources, on the RACGP website. State and territory governments will release specific guidance on access arrangements, which we will share once available.

You can find interim guidance on the medicines’ specific indications and contraindications on newsGP.

     Read the Paxlovid product information             Read the Lagevrio product information     

ATAGI guidance on 'up to date' status for COVID-19 vaccination

ATAGI has provided new guidance defining 'up to date' status for COVID-19 vaccination. The guidance defines when an individual – based on their age, medical conditions and time since vaccination – is considered ‘up to date’ or ‘overdue’ regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

Although ATAGI previously required an individual to receive two doses of TGA-approved or recognised COVID-19 vaccine to be considered ‘fully vaccinated’, people aged 16 years and older must now have received a booster dose (once eligible but within six months of their last primary dose) to be considered ‘up to date’.

This definition change may have policy impacts when a person is required to be ‘fully vaccinated’ for purposes of employment, access to a venue, etc. ATAGI recommends that changes to these requirements come into effect by the end of March 2022.

    Read the guidance    

COVID-19 Vaccination Program special bulletin for vaccine providers (11 February 2022)

The has TGA provisionally approved the AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster dose:

• TGA provisionally approved a booster dose of AstraZeneca vaccine for individuals aged 18 years and older
• Third dose of AstraZeneca may be given if clinically indicated with reference to official guidance regarding use of a heterologous third dose (eg mRNA vaccine)
• Moderna and Pfizer still preferred as third-dose vaccine in Australia

Lifting of the Code Brown alert and increase to elective surgery

The Victorian Department of Health has worked with health services to lift the coordinated Code Brown conditions in hospitals on 14 February 2022, while supporting individual hospitals as needed.

More non-urgent elective surgeries will also begin from 14 February, including private hospitals being able to perform up to 50% of all elective surgery in metropolitan Melbourne and up to 75% in regional areas. Public hospitals in regional Victoria can resume all category two elective surgery, depending on workforce availability.

Deadline extended for third-dose vaccination for key workers

The 12 February 2022 third-dose vaccination deadline for key workers has been extended to 12 March 2022.

This extension applies to workers in healthcare, aged care, disability services, emergency services, correctional facilities, quarantine accommodation and food-distribution sectors (excluding retail).

From 12 February, if someone has not yet received their third dose, they need to show their employer they have made a booking for their third dose in order to continue attending your worksite. This booking must be for a time before 12 March.

Healthcare workers who were not eligible to receive an additional COVID-19 vaccine by 12 January 2022 must receive their third dose by 29 March 2022.

Employers must also confirm their employees have received their third dose and keep a record of workers’ third-dose vaccination status, in line with government requirements.

Advice for COVID-19 cases and contacts

People with COVID-19 and household, social, workplace, education and other contacts can find some helpful checklists on the Victorian Government website.

Public Health Order #17: COVID-19 medicines authorisation in residential aged care facilities

Victoria Public Health Order #17 is intended to facilitate the supply of antiviral medicines registered for the treatment of COVID-19 and supplied by the Federal Department of Health from the National Medical Stockpile to residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in Victoria.

The prescribing, administration, storage, record keeping and disposal of these medicines must meet the requirements of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, the Regulations and any other applicable Victorian or Commonwealth legislation, and RACFs must complying with the requirements of manufacturers’ directions.

More specifically, the order states:

• a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must issue an administration order prior to the medicine being administered
• administration must be by a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (ie a registered nurse, medical practitioner or pharmacist)
• the medicines must be stored in a locked facility
• records of administration must be made and retained
• the RACF must ensure the medicines are stored according to approved temperature storage requirements
• the RACF must ensure appropriate disposal of unused, unwanted or expired medicines.

You can find guidance documents on administering, prescribing, storing and record keeping of scheduled medicines on the Medicines and Poisons Regulation website.

If you have any questions about medicines and poisons regulatory requirements in Victoria, contact dpcs@health.vic.gov.au