COVID-19 vaccines will be free for everyone living in Australia. You will not need a prescription from a GP to get vaccinated.
Quick links:
How COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine rollout is underway in Australia
Sources:
Department of Health, ABC News
Read MoreWest Australians need to embrace wearing masks along with a raft of other "COVID-fit" precautions when the State’s border reopens next week, according to Australia Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller.
From commuters crammed on trains and buses to punters at large public events, Dr Miller said West Aussies should adopt masks in their daily lives like Asian nations such as South Korea, Taiwan and China.
WA opens quarantine-free travel to most States and territories from November 14 under a new "controlled interstate border" plans announced by Premier Mark McGowan on Friday.
Speaking to The West Live, Dr Miller said masks should especially be used when someone has a common cold or even hay fever.
"Our community needs to get ready — COVID-fit — for the occasional outbreak," he told podcast host Jenna Clarke.
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The standard price per respirator and contract price arrangements per respirator remain unchanged regardless of the packaging.
Stock delivered in June will have the standard box packaging. From July onwards, stock will be delivered in bulk packs.
An email from the distributor confirming willingness to receive the new codes instead of the old codes would suffice to update backorders.
Alternatively, the backorders with old codes can be cancelled, and new orders can be placed using the new codes.
For orders that would be supplied with 9320A+ or 9322A+ from July onwards, yes this can be done, provided the distributor confirms via email their willingness to receive the new codes
The intention behind bulk packing is to increase productivity and release orders faster. However, this comes at a cost of ordering by the case unfortunately.
According to the TGA they cannot be sold loose either by 3M Au or by 3M authorised distributors.
Yes
As per TGA, neither 3M Australia nor 3M distributors would be able to sell individual units unless it comes with user instructions, 3M sponsor details, the required intended use, the product cat code, lot number and expiry.
No changes until further notice
Based on some customers feedback, a limited quantity of the 9322A+ (standard packs XA010017854 are on plan to be delivered in July.
We continue to focus on Healthcare with support for critical industrial and key industries.
The majority of our stock on hand is being released to Healthcare/Frontline HC workers dealing with Covid-19 and Govt/Hospitals and the remaining to Critical Infrastructure and existing DR customers in Industrial markets
DR Quantities and ETAs cannot be committed to customers because demand from frontline customers is being prioritised.
Regards
Paul Price
3M Personal Safety Division
3M Australia
From Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton.
To help slow the increase in transmission of coronavirus, people living in and visiting metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are required to wear a face covering whenever they leave home. If you live outside metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire – we recommend you wear a face covering when it’s difficult to keep 1.5 metres apart from others.
Face coverings provide an additional barrier to coronavirus.
Wearing masks will be made compulsory for people out in public in coronavirus-hit Melbourne and the adjacent Mitchell Shire from 11:59pm on Wednesday 22/07/2020.
Here's what we know about the new rules.
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N95 Mask Shortage Brings Inventor Out Of Retirement In Search Of Safe Reuse MethodTsai - who retired from the University of Tennessee last year after more than 30 years of teaching - says that researchers racing to find safe methods to sterilize the masks have been flooding his inbox, asking questions about his patented technology.
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Coronavirus impactsAustralia Post is currently experiencing delivery delays due to a high volume of parcels in their network.
From their website:
21 April 2020
There are delivery delays in our network due to:
These delays can be up to a few days, particularly to regional and rural communities, and mean that:
What we're doing
In some cases, we're having to process and deliver from an alternate location and customers may notice when tracking their parcel, that it is coming from a different location to what they are used to.
Use our tracking tool to keep up to date with estimated delivery times.
Our people continue to work tirelessly under difficult circumstances, so we’re asking everyone to be kind and treat our dedicated people with the courtesy and respect they deserve – whether it be in a call centre, Post Office or dropping your delivery off.
17 April 2020
Effective 20 April 2020, we're temporarily suspending the Express Post guarantee of a refund and replacement envelope or satchel for articles that don’t meet the next business day delivery standard
Express Post is still available
Our Express Post service will continue to be our fastest postal delivery option for our customers – and we'll continue to prioritise these deliveries. They just may not be delivered next business day every time.
This change is due to delays to our delivery services caused by the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including:
The temporary removal of the Express Post guarantee is not intended to impact any rights that customers may have under the Australian Consumer Law.
Friday, April 3, 2020 6:50 am CDT
Over the last several weeks and months, 3M and its employees have gone above and beyond to manufacture as many N95 respirators as possible for the U.S. market. Yesterday, the Administration formally invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to require 3M to prioritize orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for our N95 respirators.
We have been working closely with the Administration to do exactly that, and we appreciate the authorities in the DPA that provide a framework for us to expand even further the work we are doing in response to the global pandemic crisis. We look forward to working with FEMA to implement yesterday’s order.
In the course of our collaboration with the Administration this past weekend, the Administration requested that 3M increase the amount of respirators we currently import from our overseas operations into the U.S. We appreciate the assistance of the Administration to do exactly that. For example, earlier this week, we secured approval from China to export to the U.S. 10 million N95 respirators manufactured by 3M in China.
The Administration also requested that 3M cease exporting respirators that we currently manufacture in the United States to the Canadian and Latin American markets. There are, however, significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators. In addition, ceasing all export of respirators produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same, as some have already done. If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the United States would actually decrease. That is the opposite of what we and the Administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek.
We also continue to act on reports of price gouging and unauthorized reselling related to 3M respirators. This activity is unethical and illegal. We are working with the U.S. Attorney General and attorneys general of every state, making it clear that 3M has not and will not raise prices for respirators and offering our assistance in the fight.
We look forward to working closely with the Administration to implement yesterday’s DPA order. We will continue to maximize the amount of respirators we can produce on behalf of U.S. healthcare workers, as we have every single day since this crisis began.
Filtering facepiece respirators (FFR), which are sometimes called disposable respirators, are subject to various regulatory standards around the world. These standards specify certain required physical properties and performance characteristics in order for respirators to claim compliance with the particular standard. During pandemic or emergency situations, health authorities often reference these standards when making respirator recommendations, stating, for example, that certain populations should use an "N95, FFP2, or equivalent" respirator.
This document is only intended to help clarify some key similarities between such references, specifically to the following FFR performance standards:
Read MoreEuropean Union Export Restrictions and 3M Product Availability Update re: 2019 Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19Dear Valued Customer,
On March 15th, the European Union introduced export authorization requirements for exports of certain Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) outside of the European Union in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The regulation is (EU) 2020/402 and is initially effective for a six-week period but could be extended. This regulation will be enacted by each country’s customs authority which will establish a process for receiving export licenses from EU to other countries.
This new regulation will likely impact 3M’s ability to supply certain Personal Protective Equipment sourced from our manufacturing operations in the European Union to customers in non-European Union countries.
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