2 years ago
VACCINE ROLLOUT IS A RACE, IT ALWAYS WAS
ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
With millions of Australians in Covid lockdown, it is clear Scott Morrison has bungled the two most important jobs he had this year - rolling out the vaccine and fixing the nation's quarantine system.
But that doesn't mean the situation is irretrievable.
There are several actions we could be taking right now to get the troubled Covid vaccination program back on track and clear the way for a return to normal life.
Firstly, we should reach out to Australia's friends in the United States to seek access to vaccine surpluses.
Last year, as drug companies began developing vaccines, the US moved quickly to secure contracts for six different ones.
By contrast, the Morrison government has delivered only two vaccines - too slowly. The government had its first talks with Pfizer in July last year, but the Prime Minister did not finalise an order until November, when the company had already committed more than 1 billion doses to 34 nations.
Instead, he put his eggs in the AstraZeneca basket.
With Australia at the back of the queue, the chickens are coming home to roost.
Mr Morrison also promised that 51 million doses of a third vaccine - Novavax - would be delivered in the second half of this year.
But we learned last week that the vaccine, which has not yet been cleared for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, will not arrive in Australia until 2022.
So as millions of Australians cry out to be vaccinated, there simply isn't enough vaccine available.
Indeed, about 13 per cent of Australians are fully vaccinated, compared to 49 per cent of Americans and 54 per cent of people in the United Kingdom.
It's time to talk to our American friends.
They have Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to spare.
We should also be looking for excess supplies in other nations.
And we must work harder with pharmaceutical companies to develop the capacity to produce mRNA vaccines here in Australia.
The Germans took just six months to get Pfizer production up and running.
We could have done the same if Mr Morrison gone to the drug companies last year.
Instead, his only action on mRNA production has been to pay millions of dollars to consultants to write reports about mRNA production.
That's not good enough.
We need local manufacturing capacity now.
We'll need it in the future, whatever happens with Covid.
Vaccine supply failures mean many aged care and group disability home residents - our most vulnerable citizens - are still not fully vaccinated, despite Mr Morrison having promised they would be by Easter.
We've also failed to fully vaccinate their carers, along with millions of front-line workers like cleaners, retail workers and delivery drivers.
The government has been asking these people to seek vaccination through their general practitioner.
But GPs have also struggled to secure supplies.
Mr Morrison has also failed to deliver an ad campaign that gives Australians clear information about the need for vaccination.
In one sense it is understandable, if it cannot meet current demand.
However, this should not preclude giving accurate information about vaccines and their effectiveness.
Instead, Mr Morrison's focus has been to pretend we are "on track'' - or to shift the blame to state governments.
Denying there is a problem or trying to spin his way out of it risks compounding those errors. It is a race. It always was.
But that doesn't mean the situation is irretrievable.
There are several actions we could be taking right now to get the troubled Covid vaccination program back on track and clear the way for a return to normal life.
Firstly, we should reach out to Australia's friends in the United States to seek access to vaccine surpluses.
Last year, as drug companies began developing vaccines, the US moved quickly to secure contracts for six different ones.
By contrast, the Morrison government has delivered only two vaccines - too slowly. The government had its first talks with Pfizer in July last year, but the Prime Minister did not finalise an order until November, when the company had already committed more than 1 billion doses to 34 nations.
Instead, he put his eggs in the AstraZeneca basket.
With Australia at the back of the queue, the chickens are coming home to roost.
Mr Morrison also promised that 51 million doses of a third vaccine - Novavax - would be delivered in the second half of this year.
But we learned last week that the vaccine, which has not yet been cleared for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, will not arrive in Australia until 2022.
So as millions of Australians cry out to be vaccinated, there simply isn't enough vaccine available.
Indeed, about 13 per cent of Australians are fully vaccinated, compared to 49 per cent of Americans and 54 per cent of people in the United Kingdom.
It's time to talk to our American friends.
They have Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to spare.
We should also be looking for excess supplies in other nations.
And we must work harder with pharmaceutical companies to develop the capacity to produce mRNA vaccines here in Australia.
The Germans took just six months to get Pfizer production up and running.
We could have done the same if Mr Morrison gone to the drug companies last year.
Instead, his only action on mRNA production has been to pay millions of dollars to consultants to write reports about mRNA production.
That's not good enough.
We need local manufacturing capacity now.
We'll need it in the future, whatever happens with Covid.
Vaccine supply failures mean many aged care and group disability home residents - our most vulnerable citizens - are still not fully vaccinated, despite Mr Morrison having promised they would be by Easter.
We've also failed to fully vaccinate their carers, along with millions of front-line workers like cleaners, retail workers and delivery drivers.
The government has been asking these people to seek vaccination through their general practitioner.
But GPs have also struggled to secure supplies.
Mr Morrison has also failed to deliver an ad campaign that gives Australians clear information about the need for vaccination.
In one sense it is understandable, if it cannot meet current demand.
However, this should not preclude giving accurate information about vaccines and their effectiveness.
Instead, Mr Morrison's focus has been to pretend we are "on track'' - or to shift the blame to state governments.
Denying there is a problem or trying to spin his way out of it risks compounding those errors. It is a race. It always was.