Annastacia Palaszczuk quizzed over choice of Covid-19 jab

Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to reveal whether she raised concerns about AstraZeneca for over-50s in national cabinet, and whether that influenced her decision to have a different vaccine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to say whether she previously raised concerns about the Astra Zeneca vaccine for over 50s in national cabinet.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates used question time to grill Ms Palaszczuk over whether she had held concerns before yesterday’s advice to only offer Astra Zeneca to over 60s and whether those concerns had fuelled her own decision to get the Pfizer vaccine.

“It is reported today that the Premier raised concerns about AstraZeneca at national cabinet in April,” Ms Bates said.

“Why didn’t the Premier tell Queenslanders about this concern and was this why she delayed her Covid jab?”

Annastacia Palaszczuk receiving her Covid-19 vaccination in Brisbane on June 7. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

But Ms Palaszczuk refused to answer, saying: “I am not disclosing what conversations happen at national cabinet.”

The question followed a media report that said Ms Palaszczuk raised concerns in April about whether it was safe to give AstraZeneca jabs to people aged 50, citing Therapeutic Goods Administration advice.

The TGA advice referenced findings from the European Medicines Agency that most reports of the rare blood clots possibly linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine were in women aged under 60, The Guardian reports.

The Premier came under public scrutiny when she received the Pfizer vaccine almost two weeks ago, weeks after it became available to her over-50 age group.

She said the delay was caused by a dog bite that required her to get a tetanus jab, and that she then had to wait two weeks after a flu shot for the Covid vaccine.

She said her decision to get Pfizer was because of the reduced time frame between the first and second jab, which would allow her to be fully vaccinated in time for the Tokyo Olympics.

Asked today whether any concerns about AstraZeneca influenced her decision to get Pfizer, a spokesman from the Premier’s office said: “The Premier’s Pfizer vaccine was in order to meet time frames for travel to Tokyo to secure the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young would not be drawn on whether she had held previous concerns about AstraZeneca for 50 to 60-year-olds, or whether Ms Palaszczuk had specifically raised those concerns with her.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Picture: NewsWire / Dan Peled

She said the Premier had been “very interested in the whole vaccine process” and that they had spoken “in great detail” about many issues.

“She has raised concerns with me about all vaccines because there are a lot of questions about all of these vaccines,” Dr Young said.

“They were produced, as we all know, very quickly and so there have been concerns about that and I’ve been able to reassure her about the systems in place and that Australia has a regulatory body, the TGA, that looks at all of these issues and looks at coregulatory bodies around the world.

“So yes the Premier has raised issues with me right from the start about all vaccines.”

She said they had discussed concerns regarding new technology used by mRNA vaccines, and about the clamp technique that UQ had been trialling.

“The Premier has kept herself fully informed about all of the vaccines potentially being available now,” the Chief Health Officer said.

Asked whether she was concerned about vaccine hesitancy in the community, Dr Young said she was “always” concerned about that and that people should remember “the point of getting vaccinated is to save your own life”.