Youth racing for AZ

Alex receives the AstraZeneca vaccine from Monash Health nurse Ken at Sandown. 247079_04 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

An aversion to needles didn’t stop Paige from joining the under-40’s rush for Covid vaccination at Sandown Racecourse.

The 21-year-old from Ormond said she was “nervous” but “really excited” to finally get the chance for the jab.

She joined her mother, father and brother who were already immunized due to their age profiles or essential work.

Thousands of other young adults eagerly queued after the state mass-vax hub opened up extra booths for AstraZeneca shots for 18-39 year-olds from 9 August.

Monash Health reported a surge of daily bookings – about 4300 at Sandown and Cranbourne hubs in the first three days. Nearly half were under-40s.

According to Victorian health stats, the Covid Delta-variant is mainly infecting the largely unvaccinated cohorts of young adults and children.

As of 15 August, 44 cases were aged 9 or under.

A sports science student, Paige said mass vaccines would help return society to normality.

During lockdowns, she’s been unable to work her two jobs as a casual at a gym and as a physio at a football club.

Her classes at Deakin University have been limited to ZOOM.

Some of her peers were alarmed by “mixed messages” on the effects of AstraZeneca such as rare, fatal blood clotting and fertility risks, she said.

But she had “faith in the science”.

“I’d prefer to have Pfizer but I feel they wouldn’t give us AstraZeneca if it wasn’t safe.

“I’m sure we’ve had worse things in our bodies.”

She agrees with her university’s vice-chancellor Iain Martin, who proposed mandatory vaccination for staff and students.

Incentives such as Covid travel-passports would also help drive up vaccine rates, she said.

“If it meant they couldn’t go to certain places (without a vaccine), they would get vaccinated.”

Alex, from Hughesdale, said he’d been long looking forward to his first dose.

Within minutes, the 23-year-old booked his spot online at Sandown. The process was less hassle than hunting for a participating GP, he said.

His share-household were evenly divided on whether or not to get the jab.

“The side-effects and the blood-clotting is what had most people worried.

“But the chances are so small, you’d have to be stiff to get them.”

In August, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advised that the benefits of AstraZeneca outweighed the risk of “rare side effects” for all age groups.

The Delta variant may be causing more severe disease including hospitalisation among younger people, it stated.

However, potentially-lethal blood-clotting from AstraZeneca also was more common in young people and women. It had afflicted about 2 to 3 per 100,000 people under 60.

Alex weighed up the his own online research.

“Just look at the risks, and go ahead and get it. There’s a lot of people who have had it, and I don’t know anyone with terrible side-effects.”

Monash Health advises that vaccinations at Sandown are available by booking only. Details: sephu.org/covid-vaccination/booking-your-vaccination/