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NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is pinning Sydney’s hopes of exiting lockdown on a mass takeup of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Anyone aged 18 and over has been able to access the vaccine at GP surgeries for the past three weeks, but all adults aged 18 and over in Sydney will now be able to access the AstraZeneca vaccine at pharmacies from Wednesday, July 28, and mass vaccination hubs, from Friday, July 30.
The state recorded 172 cases of community transmission in the 24hr reporting period between July 25-26, with at least 60 people infectious in the community. Last week, NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant reassured the public that the desired effect of the strict lockdown measures currently in effect would be evident by the weekend of July 24. However, daily case numbers, and worryingly the number of people infectious in the community, have continued to climb.
The reality is setting in: Greater Sydney’s lockdown, despite the significant sacrifices being made across the region, does not appear to be working. The virus is now known to be circulating among essential workers. Closing down hospitality and entertainment venues and other non-essential businesses has reduced the number of indoor settings where the virus can transmit. However, cases are now emerging from critical retail spaces, where the workforce is younger and, problematically, largely unvaccinated. As Chant put it in her remarks on July 22, “These workplaces are not the hairdressers or the discretionary premises, they are the premises that actually put food on the table for people in Sydney.” To combat this, the NSW government has created priority vaccination slots for supermarket workers.
Despite it being prohibited under the current lockdown orders, mixing of households, particularly extended families, is still one of the most prolific drivers of the outbreak. At one gathering, highlighted by NSW health minister Brad Hazzard on July 23, more than three-quarters of the 50 people who attended have since tested positive. There is also concern that illegal anti-lockdown rallies, which were attended by an estimated 3,500 people in Sydney on July 24, could prove to be a super-spreader event. The standard punishment for breaking lockdown rules is a $1,000 infringement fine. However, despite hundreds of fines being issued since the current lockdown began four weeks ago, daily infringement totals have regularly remained in triple digits, suggesting the deterrents are not discouraging enough people against breaking the lockdown orders.
The premier had previously suggested that the aim of the lockdown would be to reduce the number of people infectious in the community to zero. However, this position seems to have shifted in recent days. In several of the press briefings during the week beginning July 19, Berejiklian has said no jurisdiction anywhere in the world had been able to bring down community transmission of Delta to zero (although arguably, Melbourne achieved this during its two-week lockdown in May and has just reopened again after four days of zero infectious people in the community). In the media briefing on July 27, Berejiklian said that the aim now was to bring the number of people infectious in the community “as close to zero as possible”.
While additional lockdown measures and an official extension to the stay-at-home orders are yet to be announced – Berejiklian has indicated an extension should be made official on July 28 – in the briefing on July 25, Chant said that a harder lockdown would be needed to decrease the number of people spreading the virus in the community.