Top 3 Covid vaccine questions - Lambda variant, peak spreaders, and getting Covid vaccination whilst sick

Good morning. I am Dr Lucas de Toca and we are here to answer some of your top three questions on COVID-19 and the vaccination program. As always, I'm joined today by Linda who will be doing Auslan interpreting. It's really important that our friends and family who are deaf and hard of hearing can follow this segment and understand the information and that's why under ACT directions, masks can be removed when communication requires so, as in this case for Linda. We're on the land of the Ngunnawal people. Dhawra nhuna, dhawra Ngunawal. Yanggu gulanyin ngalawiri, dhunayi, Ngunawal dhawra. Wanggarralijinyin mariny balan bugarabang, and I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands where people may be watching us from. Today we are going to talk about variants of concern, the Lambda variant. We are also going to talk about peak spreaders, and we are going to talk about what happens when you are feeling unwell and you have a scheduled vaccination appointment. But first, my shout out today goes to the hundreds of thousands of people that every week are going to receive a COVID test around Australia, with some peak testing rates across most states and territories at the moment. It's really important that when we have symptoms, no matter how mild, we go and get tested, and that's the only way that we can identify hidden clusters of community transmission around us. So thank you for doing all you can to keep us all safe by getting tested.

The first question today is about some of the chatter that we are hearing around the Lambda variant.

As you know, viruses change, they mutate. Every time a virus replicates, every time a virus copies itself, there is a chance that it might make a mistake in that copy and that's what we call a mutation. Most mutations don't make a change or actually render the virus unviable, which means that they don't pass on. But some mutations give the virus an advantage. If that advantage can be that it transmits itself more, that it makes more copies of itself or that it's harder to combat by our immune system, those advantageous mutations that are advantageous for the virus, not for us, often get selected as part of natural selection and then new variants or strains of the viruses emerge. That's what we have seen with the so-called Delta variant and that is more transmissible that is causing the majority of the outbreaks in Australia at the moment. The variants have a complex naming system but, for simplicity, are now getting named by the Greek alphabet letters. We are currently fighting the Delta variant. The dominant strain from last year that was first identified in the UK was the alpha variant, and now we are talking about the Lambda variant which is a variant that was first identified in Peru in December 2020 and it's growing prevalence in South America at the moment. The scientific community is still investigating the context of the Lambda variant and what it means in terms of transmissibility and severity and there is no conclusive data yet. We will keep reviewing what the evidence is and base our public policies on the information that arises. It's important to note as well that the WHO classifies different strains of the virus as variants of interest or variants of concern. A variant of interest is a variety of the virus that may exhibit some of the mutations that give an implication that it may be more transmissible or more severe or have impact into the disease progression, but until it is understood that that is actually happening within the population they don't get classed as a variant of concern. Delta, the variant that is causing the majority of the transmission in Australia at the moment, is a variant of concern, whereas Lamda at the moment is a variant of interest. We will keep you updated as more information comes available.

Another question we have been getting is what do we mean by peak spreaders and why do we talk about the younger people, 20-29 years of age or 20-39 years of age, as being peak spreaders?

That just recognises that in a given population, people in that age group, particularly 20-29, tend to connect with more segments of society and be responsible, or have been involved in a significant proportion of the transmission events. What we see in society is that most people transmit the virus to people of a similar age, because most people mix with people of similar ages. But the 20-39 group, in particular the 20-29 year olds, tend to be the group that has the most interaction with the most groups, because they may be caring for their children and they may also be interacting with their parents and also interacting with their peers, which then means that a significant proportion of transmissions are carried out by that age group. They are also an age group that is predominantly in the work force. The dynamic of transmission in different age groups and different cohorts is being monitored by public health officials and it will continue to inform policies on public health responses, vaccination and that's why, for instance, the vaccination blitz that is occurring in south-western Sydney and western Sydney is specifically targeting people in the 16-39 age cohort to focus on those groups that, while have a lower risk of severe disease from COVID than older people, may be more involved in transmission events in that particular part of their country.

Finally, we wanted to talk about what happens if I have my COVID vaccine appointment booked in and then I'm feeling unwell. Should I cancel and whether will I get charged for cancelling the appointment.

The answer is you should absolutely cancel if you are on the day of your vaccination appointment or the day before and you have cold and flu symptoms, you have a headache, you have shortness of breath, you have a cough, runny nose, because as you know, the most important thing that you can do and what you must do when you have those symptoms is to isolate at home, get a test and wait at home until you receive the negative test result. As such, you should notify your vaccination provider that you need to reschedule the appointment. Talk to your health provider who will then provide you advice on the particular symptoms that you have and whether you need to reschedule or not. But if they are cold and flu symptoms, chances are we will ask you to reschedule. Please call them ahead. People are not going to get charged for changing appointments. The vaccination program is free for everyone, even for people who don't have a Medicare card, you cannot be charged for your vaccine. It's important that you notify your immunisation provider as early as possible so they can book someone else to fill that appointment and make sure that everyone gets vaccinated, reschedule yours and isolate at home, get your test and wait for your result.

That's all for today. We hope you are staying safe across the many parts of the country that are currently in lockdown, including Canberra and thank you, as always, for sending your questions, your comments and for tuning in to find information about COVID-19 and the vaccines. Please stay COVID safe. And thank you very much.