The Queensland and Western Australia state governments have advised people under 40 years of age not to take AstraZeneca vaccine shots because of the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder, despite the Australian government making those shots available to all adults.

The state governments’ advice to those under 40 is based on British government guidelines, while the new federal government’s position acknowledges the scarcity of the Pfizer vaccine and an urgent need to accelerate a slow national rollout.

The disagreement has stoked confusion as around half of Australia’s population is locked down in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory due to new clusters, mostly of the Delta variant, which is said to be highly contagious.

Australians have a choice of only two vaccines and locally manufactured AstraZeneca is more plentiful.

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