100th Australian Prescriber podcast features updated COVID-19 vaccine information

Today Australian Prescriber released its 100^th podcast episode with an update on COVID-19 vaccines. The podcast series provides regular dives into some of the many Australian Prescriber articles for health professionals.

The episode features an interview with Professor Kristine Macartney, Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) and Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney. She co-wrote in the latest edition of Australian Prescriber which gives an overview of the vaccines being developed for COVID-19.

Since the article was published, two vaccines (by Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca) are now provisionally approved for use in Australia. The Australian COVID-19 vaccination program commenced in late February with the Pfizer vaccine while the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is likely to be rolled out in early March. The podcast updates the progress of these vaccines and the latest evidence of their efficacy and safety.

“It is quite incredible now to see vaccines become so central to everyone’s dialogue, and I think to simultaneously understand that the public have come on board and are interested in the science of this – I think this is something to really celebrate’,” says Professor Macartney. “All of that scientific endeavour has been underpinned by decades of work. I think people should be reassured by the technology, the scrutiny and the regulatory rigour.”

“Immunisation represents our ticket out of the pandemic, but with a lot of caveats around that: it’s not just about making the vaccines, it’s about using them,” she says. “There’s a huge amount of work ahead of us to deliver them.”

In other news, Australian Prescriber announces its top 5 podcast episodes for 2020:

1. Penicillin allergy
2. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
3. Dental pain management in primary care
4. Prescribing medicinal cannabis
5. eTG Antibiotic guidelines

Dr David Liew, one of the podcast’s regular interviewers and the host of the 100^th episode, comments, “The podcasts not only allow busy healthcare workers to stay up to date, but also to explore some of the immediate and real-world challenges in prescribing and practicing better.”