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TGA approves Moderna vaccine for kids aged 6 months to 6 years.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has granted provisional approval for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to six years. It is the first time a vaccine for the age group has received provisional approval in Australia.
A paediatric dose of the vaccine would involve two doses, 28 days apart.
The TGA considered data from clinical trials in Canada and the United States, which included more than 6000 participants aged from six months to six years. The study found the immune response to the vaccine in children was similar to that seen in young adults aged 18 to 25 years and had similar safety levels.
Final approval would need to be granted by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation before the rollout could begin. Health Minister Mark Butler has since stressed supplies for this vaccine for children six months to six is limited.
"There are still a number of steps yet that need to be secured before we are in a position to make available this vaccine to parents and their very young children," he said.
"There is very limited supply of this Moderna product across the world and, as you can imagine, there is fierce competition by countries in North America, Europe and other parts of the world to get their hands on this very limited supply."
Butler said the federal health department was in active negotiations to secure as many doses of the new vaccine as possible. Butler also urged parents to get their young children vaccinated against influenza, amid a rise in the number of infections across the country.
Listen to the evening headlines with The Quicky, right here:
With AAP.
Police investigate 6-year-old's death in Adelaide.
The family of a six-year-old girl who died from alleged neglect had contact with multiple South Australian government agencies, including police and child protection officials, before her death.
Police have established a task force to investigate the death of Charlie, who was found to be unresponsive at a home in suburban Munno Para on Friday. She died soon after her arrival at hospital.
Her death has been declared a major crime and is being treated as a case of criminal neglect. Police said five other children aged eight, 10, 13, 14 and 15 were also removed from the home amid varying levels of concern for their wellbeing.
Deputy Police Commissioner Linda Williams said a range of government agencies had interacted with the family and the extent of those interactions would form part of the investigation. She said police would allocate all the necessary resources to determine what happened and whether any charges could be laid.
Interim post-mortem results raised concerns about the state of Charlie's health and wellbeing at the time of her death.
"We want to understand what happened to Charlie and how she ended up in the circumstances that she did," Ms Williams said. "The death of any person is tragic, but the death of a young child, a six-year-old girl, obviously causes concern for everybody to want to know how this occurred."
The deputy commissioner said conditions in the home were described as poor, but she was unable to elaborate. She declined to comment in detail on who the police were speaking to and the level of cooperation they were receiving. Acting Premier Susan Close said that as an immediate response to the case, the government had ordered a review of the interactions between state agencies and the family over the past couple of years.
Charlie's death will also be subject to a coronial inquiry.
Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard described the girl's death as heartbreaking and said her thoughts were with her family and friends.
"What I can say is the family were known to multiple government agencies who were actively involved with them over the past couple of years," Ms Hildyard said. "All government agencies that had contact with this family will, of course, fully cooperate with the inquiries that follow this tragedy."
Those agencies included the Child Protection Department, Human Services, Education and Housing.
Ms Hildyard said child protection was an incredibly complex system, but one that "had to do better".
"I and our government will be relentless in our efforts to improve the system," she said. "I do understand that people are frustrated."
With AAP.
The story release Meghan Markle is dreading.
The first trailer for She Said, the film adaptation of the book by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey detailing how they brought down Harvey Weinstein, has been released. Here’s everything you need to know about the movie that’s already pulling in Oscar buzz.
Plus, someone is going to have to step up and marry Chris Evans. The Captain America star said he’s “laser-focused” on finding a long-term romantic partner, which got us thinking about how he’s escaped the ‘unlucky in love’ tag for so many years and why his words feel so unusual in the Hollywood landscape.
And an extract has been published from the upcoming book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, otherwise known as the book “Meghan Markle is dreading” being released. The first extract from the book details the infamous story behind Meghan Markle’s infamous Vanity Fair cover, and it’s now clear that the book is very much out to bring her down.
Listen to The Spill now!
Baby and two adults found dead in suspected DV incident, and everything women are talking about this morning.
Morning,
Here are the top news stories you need to know today, Tuesday July 19.
Warning: This post mentions domestic violence and may be triggering for some readers.
1. Baby and two adults found dead in NT property in suspected domestic violence incident.
The bodies of a man, woman and a baby have been found with a gun at a remote property near Alice Springs, Northern Territory police say.
Officers discovered the 41-year-old man, 40-year-old woman and child about 2.30pm on Sunday at a small outstation, 25km north of the city and are treating the deaths as a domestic violence incident.
"Police located a firearm at the scene and we are treating this as a domestic violence incident," Acting Commander Mark Grieve said yesterday.
"This was an horrific event, and our hearts go out to the family and community members affected by this tragedy."
A baby and two adults have been found dead at a property in Central Australia in a critical incident, Northern Territory Police confirmed. Police said officers had received a report at about 2.30pm in Sunday the bodies were found at a property about 25km north of Alice Springs. pic.twitter.com/157CQDhC0F
— Australian Femicide Watch (@MapFemicide) July 17, 2022
Community resilience and engagement command team remain at the scene, along with Aboriginal liaison officers, who are supporting the community.
"We are also offering support to first responders and investigators involved," Acting Commander Grieve said.
Earlier, he assured the public there was no ongoing threat to the community.
"I would like to confirm for everyone there is certainly no safety concerns for Alice Springs or the surrounding community as a result of this incident," he said.
Detectives continue to investigate the incident, and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
2. PM says isolation rules to stay as states return to school with COVID protocols.
Isolation requirements for people with COVID-19 are not set to change as health experts say now is not the right time for a review.
The advice from the chief medical officer had not changed in relation to reducing the seven-day isolation period, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
This contradicts NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, who called for a review of the requirements for workers.
"We need to look at isolation requirements in a way that still maintains downward pressure on our health system," he told Sydney radio 2GB yesterday.
"As we move through the next phase of the pandemic we need to balance up the competing health issues - mental health issues, educational outcomes for our children, allowing people the opportunity to go to work."
Meanwhile, millions of RAT testing kits will be handed out to NSW students over the coming weeks as they return to the classroom today.
Millions of RAT testing kits will be handed out to NSW students over the coming weeks as they return to school. #9Today pic.twitter.com/7Jwdh7YAiQ
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 18, 2022
Vaccination mandates for most teachers have ended, while other methods of controlling the virus will be boosted for the term's first four weeks. Unvaccinated casual teachers will be allowed in classrooms, while permanent staff who resigned or were dismissed can apply for a new position.
In Victoria, although the state government rejected mask mandates, parents have been sent a letter by the heads of public, independent and Catholic schools requiring face masks be worn indoors for all students over eight, until the end of winter.
3. More cops to target NSW domestic violence.
Dozens of new officers will join specialist NSW police units targeting domestic violence, organised crime and terrorism.
Police Minister Paul Toole says police prosecutions will also get a boost, with an additional 35 positions created to help achieve convictions.
The minister announced 120 new positions yesterday, saying it was the biggest increase in police numbers across the state in more than 30 years.
"We're boosting every area and aspect of the NSW Police Force," he said. "This is about giving police the resources they need to stay ahead of the game and to make sure that they keep our community safe."
NSW specialist police are muscling up to combat organised crime, domestic violence and terrorism.
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) July 18, 2022
The 550 role expansion is part of a $583 million commitment to add 1,500 extra officers over four years - the state's biggest police force increase in more than 30 years. #9News pic.twitter.com/1O99IxsPR0
Additional officers will be attached to a team targeting high-risk domestic violence offenders, such as repeat offenders and those who don't comply with apprehended violence orders.
"(Domestic violence) has been an area of concern ... that takes up a lot of our resources and our time," said Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
The extra positions are part of 550 new officers this financial year the government needs to fulfil a 2018 commitment to hire 1500 staff over four years at a cost of $583 million.
4. UK swelters as extreme heatwave leads to hundreds of deaths in Europe.
Train services have been cut, schools closed and ambulance crews are braced for a rise in emergency calls, as UK temperatures soar into the high 30Cs.
Temperatures had risen to 37.5C in Kew Gardens, west London, by mid-afternoon, making it the hottest day of the year, while the mercury topped 37C in a number of other places.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a level four heat-health alert - described as an "emergency" - a large part of England is under its first red extreme heat warning, issued by the Met Office.
For the first time temperatures of 40°C have been forecast in the UK and the first ever Red warning for exceptional heat has been issued.
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 15, 2022
Find out more in our press release 👇
Climate change, which has pushed up global temperatures by 1.2C on pre-industrial levels, is making heatwaves longer, more intense and more likely.
A week-long heatwave has already caused hundreds of deaths across Europe.
360 heat-related deaths have been reported in Spain, while Portugal's Health Ministry said 238 people had died between July 7 and 13, the ABC reports.
5. Environment sick, getting sicker, report finds.
Australia's environment is sick and getting sicker as the combined effects of climate change, pollution, land clearing and mining take a dangerous toll, a landmark report says.
The State of the Environment report, a five-yearly health check on the country's natural ecosystems, found the "state and trend of the environment of Australia are poor and deteriorating".
The report details "abrupt" changes in ecological systems over the last five years with climate change adding a devastating new layer to the accumulation of other threats.
The result is a growing list of threatened species trying to survive in shrinking and degraded ecosystems that are being ineffectively managed with too little money, it says.
Australia's natural environment is in a state of rapid decline across almost all indicators, according to the 2021 State of the Environment report released by the government on Tuesday https://t.co/CX3tbwuUeh
— Bloomberg Green (@climate) July 18, 2022
"Our inability to adequately manage pressures will continue to result in species extinctions and deteriorating ecosystem condition, which are reducing the environmental capital on which current and future economies depend."
The report, which the former Morrison government refused to release before the election, has been variously described by its chief authors as stark and depressing.
New Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has called it shocking. She will use a National Press Club address today to explain how Labor will respond.
That's everything you need to know this morning. We'll keep you updated with more of the top news stories throughout the day.
If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.
- With AAP.
What's going on in Sri Lanka?
Thousands of Sri Lankans have stormed the residence of the now former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as widespread protests against the country's economic crisis continue.
But what has led to this situation spiralling out of control, and what happens now the long-ruling Rajapaksa family have fled the country?
The Quicky speaks to an advocate for Sri Lankan peacebuilding and two Australian - Sri Lankans who still have family and connections there to find out how this crisis evolved, and what can be done to bring stability back to the nation.
READ:
Feature Image: Getty.