Walcha General Practice Clinic

13/06/2023

Good News! Phones are back up and working (11am). We hope no one was too affected by this outage.

12/06/2023

ATTENTION those trying to call the Walcha General Practice AND the Walcha Hospital this morning Tuesday 13th June . We are experiencing difficulties with BOTH PHONE SYSTEMS due to a routine Generator Test Run interfering with the phone system and causing a breakdown. A Technician is currently on the way from Tamworth to rectify the issue but the time frame for resolution is, as yet, unknown. IF YOU HAVE AN URGENT problem please present in person to the Surgery or Hospital. Hopefully there will be a resolution by late morning. We will keep you posted.

27/04/2022

Influenza vaccination for 2022 will occur at the local showground in 2 clinics next month. These vaccines have their maximal benefit for the first 3 or 4 months, so May vaccination should cover August and September when flu season often hits us the most. Ring the surgery on 67774293 if you wish to be involved. Vaccines are available for all over 6 months.

16/12/2021

I will confirm there is now a positive case of Covid-19 in Walcha, as there is already a good deal of confusion and anxiety about this from some in our community.
This situation is under control at present. Based on current NSW Health guidelines, all close contacts have been identified, tested and isolated.
We will wait on test results and respond accordingly.

I should point out that it’s a dangerous time for restrictions to be significantly eased.
Omicron: it’s increasing and highly infectious and the extent of it’s severity as yet unknown
X’mas period: more gathering and travelling than usual, spreading events will increase
Masks: a lot of people now believe they are not necessary. The government saying you don’t need to wear them has been misunderstood. They are not saying you shouldn’t wear them. Masks decrease transmission significantly, up to 60-80%. My strong advice is to continue wearing them when indoors in public spaces.
Boosters: not yet rolled out sufficiently. If Omicron does take off, we will change our guidance to include all over 18yrs, as little as 3 months after your second vaccination.

15/12/2021

23/08/2021

Pfizer now available at the surgery for 16-40 yr olds, and continues for 40to under 60 yr olds.
AZ for over 60 yrs
Ring soon for appointment as places are now available

08/08/2021

Telephones are down through some of the Hunter New England Health Service at present. This is affecting our surgery unfortunately. It’s an example of Murphy’s Law.
They are working on it. Please be patient.

08/08/2021

The following may be of interest now that there is community transmission of Covid close to home (3 cases in Armidale at time of writing this)

1) AZ Vaccination
We will offer early 2nd dose AZ vaccination provided the first dose was more than 6 weeks ago. This will be available every day
We continue to offer 1st dose AZ vaccination for those aged 60 years and over and for those under 40 years

2) Pfizer Vaccination
2nd dose is not offered early. Wait the 3 weeks
1st dose is available for those aged 40 to under 60 years.

People that are isolating and are booked for a planned 2nd vaccination SHOULD keep that appointment. Ring beforehand and you will vaccinated at outside the back entrance of the surgery, where we can safely monitor you for 15 minutes afterwards.

3) Covid swabs
Anyone who has been in Armidale since 29th July is welcome to have a swab taken at the surgery. This will continue to be done in the car park.
Anyone with even mild symptoms should also be tested, as has always been the case.
Please ring to book time of arrival

4) Isolate until 12am Sunday 15th August for those that have been in the Armidale LGA, including Guyra, since 29th July
(This does not include family members. It would only do so if the index case was designated a ‘close contact’)
Please cancel if you have a routine appointment.
Urgent and semi urgent appointments will remain available for those that have been in Armidale. You will be seen outside the surgery building if medically feasible. A phone consultation is also available.

Please be patient when ringing in the next few weeks if your call takes sometime to be answered, as I expect things to be a little busier for a while

26/06/2021

Following yesterday’s NSW Public Health announcement, we will test
1) anyone identified as a close contact by NSW Health (they will contact you)
2) anyone who has been to a ‘case location’ or on transport at a time identified as being at risk. You can identify these places/times simply by googling ‘current NSW Covid-19 locations’
3) anyone with symptoms, even if they are only very mild
Call and make an appointment if you need a test

Anyone who has been to Greater Sydney, Wollongong, Blue Mountains or Central Coast since June 21 is being asked to stay at home for 14 days after you were in this area. You are not being asked to get tested unless you are in one of the above categories.
If you have been in close or casual contact with anyone who has visited from these areas, you are not being asked to be tested. If you develop symptoms get tested.

Symptoms are: fever, tickly/sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, new tiredness, headache, sore muscles or joints, nausea/vomiting or diarrhoea

Anyone coming to the surgery should be wearing a mask. A reminder about masks. Don’t touch your mask before cleaning your hands. That includes putting it on, taking it off and all times in between.

I’ll update this post if there are any significant changes.

24/06/2021

Following Adam Marshall’s positive Covid test, there has been a good deal of misinformation circulating about Walcha today.
I want to assure everyone there have been NO positive Covid tests in Walcha and NO ONE has a Covid infection in Walcha at present.
The Public Health Unit folks are contacting Mr Marshall’s close contacts. Only if any of these are positive or become symptomatic will the close contacts of these people need to be tested.
So only people in Walcha with symptoms need to be tested, as has always been the case.
Symptoms = test
No symptoms = no test
I will post an update if things change here

22/06/2021

COVID VACCINES
The goal posts have been moved again.

It’s understandable if you are getting confused. The government immunisation advisory body, ATAGI, taking into consideration new data and with the relative lack of infection in our community have changed their advice again.

If you are not generally against vaccination and are thinking about being vaccinated against Covid infection for the first or second time but are wondering what to do, I hope the following helps you arrive at a clearer decision.

Pfizer Vaccine

• Now to be offered in Australia to all under 60 years
• It is not known to cause TTS

Common adverse events
▪ Injection site pain >80% of individuals.
▪ Fatigue >60% of individuals.
▪ Headache >50% of individuals.
▪ Muscle aches >30% of individuals.
▪ Joint aches >20% of individuals.
▪ Fever >10% of individuals.
▪ Injection site swelling >10% of individuals

• A total of 2 doses are required a recommended 3 weeks or 21 days apart, with a minimum of 19 days. There is no maximum time between doses.
• The Pfizer vaccine will be available here in Walcha shortly. We will offer it initially to all those between 40-60 years, but will soon after make it available to all those under 40 years. We will be running clinics for Pfizer vaccination as we did with the AZ vaccine and you are welcome to ring and book to join one of them. The first clinic will be on 12th July.


AstraZenica vaccine

First dose:
▪ As of June 17th, there have been 3.8 million doses of AZ vaccine
given in Australia.
▪ There have been 60 cases of TTS (thrombotic thrombocytopenia
syndrome)
▪ This means the risk of getting a clot in Australia to date is 17 in 1
million. Bear in mind this is across all age groups and the numbers
are uneven. It appears the risk of getting a clot in the over 60-year
age group is about 14 in 1 million.
▪ The risk is greater in women under 60.
▪ There have been 2 deaths in Australia. That means if you do get a
clot, on present numbers the risk of dying from it is about 3%.

Second dose:
▪ It is a nonsense when you hear on the news there have been no
cases of clots in Australia with the second dose, as there have been
almost no second doses of AZ vaccine given so far in Australia.
These have only just started and will ramp up shortly.
▪ So, we need to look at other countries. The UK has given by far the most AZ doses around the world and have given 15.7 million
second doses of the AZ vaccine. In this group there have been 23
cases of TTS. This is just under 1.5 per million
▪ So, the risk of getting TTS with the second dose is not nil. But
compared to the risk with the first dose, it is less by a factor of a
little under 11.

Changing Vaccines between the 1st and 2nd doses

• Those over 60 years may be wondering about this. I do expect this will be OK'd by ATAGI at some time in the future
• There are two trials overseas. Both looked at the effects of giving AZ vaccine as dose one followed by a Pfizer as second dose vaccine.
• Combivacs trial in Spain had a small cohort of 600 people and these were all under 60 years. Its preliminary results in a Phase 2 of the trial showed this regime was highly effective in eliciting an immune response.
• Com-COV trial in the UK is also looking at immune response and side effects of giving AZ followed by Pfizer as second dose. This group is over 50 years. The report is expected to be out shortly (by the end of June)


My thoughts
▪ The government locked itself into AZ vaccine more than any other
vaccine early on. Unfortunately for the rollout, this vaccine has
been the one to prove to have some risk
▪ I think the risk is small of TTS with the AZ vaccine, but each of you has to decide what level of risk you are comfortable with.
▪ I expect sometime in the future, possibly not until next year, the AZ vaccine will be superseded by the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna vaccines) or vaccines using a more traditional approach
(Novavax which uses a small purified piece of the virus)
▪ Once international borders are open Covid infection will increase
dramatically. Look at the high number of positives reported each
day among those returned overseas travellers quarantining in
hotels. It seems impossible to me that low levels of infection will
continue in Australia.
▪ We need to be vaccinated to get our country nearer to the way we were in 2019.
▪ We need to be vaccinated so we don’t pass it on to the more
vulnerable, particularly the elderly or those with illnesses making
them immunocompromised, of which there are many.
▪ We need to be vaccinated for our family and lastly and just as
importantly for our own health. Covid infection is a killer, far more
dangerous than the flu.

07/05/2021

Influenza Vaccination 2021

A reminder that if you or any of your family would like to have this year’s influenza vaccine, the time to organise this is now.

We are running the last influenza clinic at the Show Ground on 19th May.
This is the same as last year, where you stay in your car and we come to you.

Ring the surgery 67772493 to get a time to arrive.

Might there be a significant influenza outbreak this winter?
• Last year’s numbers between April and September were only 5% of the five-year average and only 0.5% of the previous year’s infections (2019 was the most intense influenza year in Australia since accurate data began).
• So, 2020 was a great year in Australia for only little influenza illness.
• This was aided by a high vaccination coverage (a new record at 18 million) and the public health measures (social distancing, lockdowns – notably the six-month lockdown of Melbourne).
• We may well have another great year, but it is impossible to predict.
• That is because there will be reduced immunity to influenza due to the absent 2020 season together with increasing fatigue with public health measures. If the virus arrives from overseas, influenza activity this winter might be high.

So, in answer to the question above, I don’t know. If you want to decrease the risk, have the needle. Remember, the aim of influenza vaccination is not preventing infection but to maintain functional capacity. You might still get infected, but you won’t get as sick.

A few thoughts about Covid 19 at the time of writing 7th May
• AstraZenica vaccine
Infection prevented in 40-50% of those vaccinated.
Of those that do get infected, 70% after the first needle (by day 12) and 80% after the second needle get no symptoms.
Close to 100% of those that do get infected do not get sick enough to need hospitalisation (and therefore do not die)
It does not work against the South African variant
Clot risk now appears to be somewhere between 1 in 20,000 to 30,000 for those under 50 years and around 1 in 100,000 for those over 50 years, remembering the risk goes down the older one is.

• Covid 19 virus this winter and beyond
The Covid 19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) will continue to arrive in Australia through overseas arrivals.
Whenever our external borders open more freely, the virus will return to Australia in larger numbers.
This coronavirus will never be eradicated in the long term. We will need to learn to live with it.
Covid 19 cases will be minimal this winter in a closed border Australia.

• SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Like all viruses it makes our bodies copy and produce more of it
We get unwell when this is occurring. We spread it to others, so the virus propagates and ‘lives’.
Mistakes are made during this copying process leading to variants.
Some of these variants will outcompete older strains as they will be more infective/spread more easily.
Some of them will also be more dangerous as they will produce more severe disease. Note though, that these variants will not survive in the longer term as they will kill off their hosts (us)
When the spike protein produced by a variant is sufficiently distinct from an earlier variant, it will not be neutralised by antibodies produced by prior vaccines.
Vaccines will evolve and change in the future just as influenza vaccines do.