Is there such a thing as knowing too much?
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Why is transparency in vaccine advisory committees important during a pandemic?
This is an ABC podcast. Hello, this is CoronaCast, a daily podcast all about the coronavirus. I'm health reporter Tegan Taylor.
And I'm physician and journalist, Doctor Norman Swan. It's Friday the sixteenth of april two thousand and twenty one.
And when we're in a pandemic, Norman, there are a lot of really complicated medical decisions that get made by our expert committees nationally, and most of that happens behind closed doors. And maybe there's a good argument for that. It's complicated, perhaps the public could be spooked by some of the scenarios that get put around. But in the States it's different. A lot of these decisions are made in a public forum. Uh for example, they have uh committees there about uh Advice on vaccinations, those committees workings are public. Should we have the same thing here in Australia?
Well, we absolutely should, for the purposes of transparency. Um we've got no idea what the HPP HPC, PPC, I always get that wrong, but the principal health committee talks about and how they make the decisions. We've got no idea how the what what the evidence the infection control expert group rely on, which presumably allows our medical registrar, Princess Alexandra, following their guidelines to get infected by a COVID nineteen patient.
How do U.S. public vaccine advisory meetings differ from Australia’s closed‑door process?
And we don't know what evidence Atagi, the Australian technical advisory. group on immunisation relies upon, um because the deliberations aren't public.
Well the reason we're talking about this is because the US C D C's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices were meeting yesterday about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Yes, and it was entirely in the open and the slides that were presented to the meeting were w were in public. And in fact, we'll put those slides on our website, on the Chronicast website. And you can see what w what deliberations they made. And interestingly, their pause, which they say is going to be for seven to fourteen days, is not a permanent pause. It's giving them it's giving them time to actually look at the risks according to age group, do a proper risk-benefit analysis so that they've got the right decision making. They still consider the Jansen vaccine, or it's also called Johnson ⁇ Johnson vaccine, to be an important part of ensuring vaccine equity, because in fact the j the Jansen vaccine in the United States was being used for disadvantaged groups where there's awkward booking processes, it's difficult to come forward.
And they are underpowered. So the privileged and well off in America are getting vaccinated at high rates. But when you look at the disadvantaged populations, it's it's it it's very low, around about twenty percent. And the Johnson vaccine, Johnson and Johnson vaccine was seen as a solution for that, a single dose vaccine where you don't have to get people to come back for a second dose. So it's still considered very important. So it's not that they're more worried about
What did the CDC’s Advisory Committee reveal about the Johnson & Johnson pause and risk‑benefit analysis?
about it, that they're putting a pause on it. It's more that they want to make the right decision in terms of restriction and the b risk benefit analysis, 'cause remember, there's still covet around, plenty of it in the United States, and the risk of a you know of an uptick is significant.
And one of the things that is often a criticism when people are hesitant about vaccines is that they maybe feel like they're not getting the full story. So increasing that level of transparency can be a way to reassure people that all these checks and balances are truly in place.
Yes, and when you actually you know, people are free to go into this slide presentation that we'll put up on the Chronocast website and you'll see that when you actually see the results, it's much less scary. You know, it just tells you what the story is and the pre existing conditions, for example. So for example for example, nobody in these six women and they're all women, uh had a a blood clotting problem.
a pre existing blood clotting problem.
A pre existing blood clotting problem, thank you. They all in this case had cerebralvenos venous sinus thrombosis, that's a cerebral vein thrombosis.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is transparency in vaccine advisory committees important during a pandemic?
0:00–1:11
2
How do U.S. public vaccine advisory meetings differ from Australia’s closed‑door process?
1:11–2:39
3
What did the CDC’s Advisory Committee reveal about the Johnson & Johnson pause and risk‑benefit analysis?
2:39–4:29
4
How can public access to committee slides reassure people about blood‑clot risks?
4:29–6:25
5
Why is there limited visibility on Australia’s vaccine supply and dosing schedules?
6:25–8:06
6
What lessons does Israel’s rapid rollout and case‑drop offer for other countries?
8:06–9:22
7
Can a low‑dose aspirin regimen prevent AstraZeneca‑related clotting, and why do experts advise against it?
9:22–10:38
8
What symptoms should I watch for after an AstraZeneca jab to catch rare clotting events early?
10:38–11:53