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Good morning.
I'm Dr Lucas de Toca and this
is my first segment of the year
in which we will answer some of
your questions you have been
asking on our social media
channels.
As usual and not to change
things this year I'm joined by
Linda who will be doing Auslan
interpreting.
We are calling... Broadcasting
from Ngunnawal country.
(Speaks in Indigenous Language)
I also want to acknowledge the
traditional owners of the lands
where you may be watching from.
Today we will talk about
whether we are a little bit
nervous now that COVID is very
frequent in pretty much every
state and territory and we all
know people who have got an
infection or ourselves had an
infection recently so what do
we do and what is it mean if we
are unvaccinated or not?
We will talk about protection
after the booster and whether
it wanes after four months and
what we know but also what we
did know yet and we will also
talk about omicron symptoms
among children and what are the
differences with adults?
I think I also want to give a
shout out to the healthcare
workers, pathology testing
staff, collection sampling
personnel, immunise, everyone
in healthcare working
incredibly hard over the
holiday period as cases have
been climbing and vaccine
numbers have also been climbing.
Everyone has been out, often
separated from families to make
sure patients are looked after,
that cover tests are being
collected and vaccines have
continued throughout the
holiday period, so thank you to
our holiday workers for their
ongoing work.
The first question today is -
I'm about --
nervous about getting COVID-19
even though fully vaccinated
and what can I do to lessen my
anxiety?
It is completely novel --
normal.
We have gone from suppression
of community transmission and
very low numbers with very
intense reporting and airy case
vertically the states that had
virtually zero COVID for quite
a while.
To now where we have thousands
of cases every day and pretty
much we all know people who are
currently set with COVID or who
have had COVID.
So it is very normal to feel a
bit stressed and anxious in
this pandemic even though you
are vaccinated.
Even though breakthrough
infections occur and
unvaccinated people (inaudible)
can also get sex --
et seq, the chances of
hospitalisation and death are
incredibly reduced.
--
get sick if you are vaccinated.
Of course continue to practice
COVID Safe behaviours remains
as important as ever and even
more so because we have so much
COVID in the community now
compared to your that those
behaviours that we continue to
practice are very effective.
--
before.
We are facemask and follow the
local state and territory
advice and if you cannot
achieve good physical
distancing in your indoor
environment and of course there
are exemptions to masks indoors
including to facilitate
communication as it is really
important so Linda can properly
convey the message to our
Auslan using viewers.
But then continue to practice
the other behaviours that we
have been practising over the
last year or so, two years
linearly --
nearly enough.
Try to stay outdoors and if
you're indoors try to be in a
well ventilated space with
windows open if possible and
try to avoid crowded spaces if
possible.
Continue to of course practice
good hand hygiene, water and
soap would be preferred but if
that is not available,
sanitiser is OK but make sure
it is at least 60% alcohol.
And if you have any symptoms
that are associated with COVID,
even if they amount, stay at
home and follow the guidelines
in your state or territory and
either get a PCR rapid antigen
test and stay isolated until
you get a negative result.
If you are due for your COVID
vaccination you need to
complete your primary course or
you are due for your booster,
please, please book now and
make sure you're up-to-date
with your vaccination schedule.
If you are 10 years and over
and you have had your second
dose, four months or more ago,
make sure you get your booster
so you maximise your chances of
protection against infection,
severe disease and
hospitalisation.
On that topic, how does this
work?
Are we going to need another
booster in four months?
How much does the protection
from the booster last?
Lots of questions but we still
don't have all the answers.
But we do have some clear
information.
What we know is that while it
is uncertain how long the
protection from the booster or
third dose will last for, we do
know that there seems to be a
drop in antibodies circulating
against infection three, four,
five, six months after second
doses.
It is not unusual that after
infection or a vaccine,
antibody levels are lower.
We cannot just add more and
more antibodies every time we
have an infection of anything
and just keep them circulating
in the blood.
The blood will become too thick
so it is not unusual for any
disease that is circulating
antibody levels actually wane
over time as the antibodies are
in the blood.
After several months, the
levels of antibodies lower and
helps to explain why the
protection against getting the
disease, the protection against
contracting the disease and
transmitting it to others seems
to wane month after vaccination
because antibodies, small
molecule circulating in your
blood, are the first barrier of
protection once the viruses in
your system.
If the virus is circulating and
it is immediately neutralised
by antibodies, it cannot really
cause infection so that is why
hi antibody level seem to be
related to prevention of
infection.
However, that is not the only
trick your immune system has.
Apart from antibody production
there are a lot of other
responses contributing to
ensuring your immune system can
fight the infection.
Cellular responses or responses
mediated by cells are a big
part of it and we have two
types of what we call adaptive
immune cells that play a major
role in this.
There are B cells that produce
antibodies and have... Actors
memory cells that are ready to
be reactivated if you get in
touch with the virus again and
then there are T cells that
directly help fight the
infection and what we know is
that T cell response seems to
be very high months after
immunisation or infection, so
it might be that the waning
antibody levels mean that the
protection against infection
lowers and that is why we are
seeing especially with omicron
a lot of vaccinated people
getting the disease even though
the chances are still lower
than unvaccinated people, they
can still get it.
However, we have more
indications despite these
waning antibody levels of
protection against severe
disease, which seems to be
mostly mediated by these T
cells, remains.
We are seeing it with omicron
and we continue to see it with
Delta because we still have
Delta in Australia that
vaccinated people, even non-
oosted people have a much
lower chance of severe disease,
hospitalisation and death than
unvaccinated people and this is
even multiplied manyfold if you
get a booster the booster seems
to restore your antibody level
so achieve more protection
against infection altogether
and then further boost your
protection against severe
disease.
But if you have had your full
course two months ago, three
months ago, you're not yet
eligible for your booster,
don't think you are unprotected.
Your antibodies may be low and
you may have a higher chance
before getting an infection but
you are still more protected
than unvaccinated person and
you are still well protected
against severe disease,
hospitalisation and death.
However, when if you get your
eligibility for a booster, four
months after your second dose,
go and get your booster and
that way you make sure that you
restore your immune response to
the maximum possible and reduce
your chances of getting the
disease or getting very sick
from it.
The final question today is
about omicron and children.
How the symptoms different?
Tickets get different symptoms
from adults?
And broadly, in terms of the
types of symptoms, the answer
would be no.
What we know is that children
tend to get a much milder
version of the disease.
Of course there are exceptions
to that and every illness,
severe illness and a kid, let
alone a debt is an absolute
tragedy so we want to prevent
that but it does seem this
disease, either Delta or
omicron, remains very related
to age.
Young people can get sick,
absolutely.
The older you are, the higher
the chances are of getting
severe disease from this
infection and that is why all
the vaccination programs and
approaches about protecting
especially older people.
Kids do generally get much
milder disease but when they
get it, the symptoms are very
consistent with the symptoms we
see in adults, so the usual
list of symptoms -
fever, fatigue, shortness of
breath, cough, runny nose, sore
throat, the usual.
Even loss of taste and smell as
we have seen in some cases with
COVID in adults.
Not a completely different
symptom profile but definitely
a milder version generally and
as with adults and since
yesterday we started the
vaccination program for 5 to
11-year-olds, more and more
evidence shows now that
vaccinated people have a much
milder disease, and for the
vast majority of vaccinated
people who contract omicron,
the disease just runs like a
cold, for a couple of days,
three days and then the
symptoms start to resolve and
this is what we see in the vast
majority of cases now.
It is now clear omicron is
milder than Delta, which
doesn't mean it is completely
harmless and people are getting
sick, are going to hospital and
dying from COVID but it is
definitely milder and the
vaccine still confers
protection against severe
disease so we are still seeing
a very mild difference in the
outcomes of vaccinated people
and unvaccinated people and
even more so boosted people
versus non-boosted people or
unvaccinated people, so get
your booster when you are due,
make sure you are fully
vaccinated if you are not yet,
be assured that generally,
children will have a much
milder version of the disease,
but the symptom profile will be
similar in terms of what
symptoms they get.
That is all we have today.
I hope that was useful.
Thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for staying COVID
Safe.
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