An Australian doctor has urged younger Australians to consider the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, saying the risk from an adverse reaction to peanuts is higher.
Dr Kean-Seng Lim from Mt Druitt in Sydney's west said NSW is in a situation where for those in hotspot areas, getting a vaccine as a priority may be better than waiting for Pfizer vaccine.
Australia's peak authority on vaccines ATAGI recommends Pfizer for people aged under 60 because of a very rare blood-clot side-effect linked to AstraZeneca - but anyone over 18 can access this option if the provide 'informed consent'.
Australia's vaccine authority recommends the Pfizer jab for under 60s but anyone over 18 can get the AstraZeneca jab if they provide 'informed consent'
Thousands of young Australians have already had the AstraZeneca vaccine and Dr Lim said it was an 'amazingly effective' vaccine provided the risks and benefits are considered.
'There are reactions to vaccines even in normal times and quite frankly you get reactions to anything ... I think more people probably die of peanuts than they die of vaccines,' Dr Lim told Today on Saturday.
'The AstraZeneca vaccines are in good availability and any vaccination now is going to be better than one which isn't there for you when you need it,' he said.
Dr Lim said there is a possibility lockdowns across the country may not be able to successfully contain the delta strain and that vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic.
Sydney based GP Dr Lim (pictured) urged younger people to consider the AstraZeneca vaccine saying the situation in NSW had reached a point where vaccination was especially important
He said vaccines should be distributed to where they are needed the most - agreeing with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's plea that more virus doses be allocated to her state.
But Mr Lim also added adhering to restrictions was still extremely important so that virus numbers do not surge out of control.
'It's important we still keep doing everything we can to keep the numbers low, because at this point the number of people in Australia who are actually fully vaccinated is not high enough to give us full protection.'
Currently about 11 per cent of the Australian population is fully vaccinated.
The outbreak of the Delta strain which began in Sydney has spread to Victoria, Queensland and South Australia (pictured: Melbourne residents exercise while in lockdown)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week the vaccine rollout had hit a milestone with 1million vaccine doses being administered the previous week.
According the the Australian Bureau of Statistics there were 324 deaths from anaphylaxis or allergic reaction between 1997 and 2013.
The breakdown of this is 205 from unspecified causes, 52 from medications, 41 from insect bites, 23 from food
