COVID vaccine Qld: Rollout reset ‘must’ come out of National Cabinet

The AMA says a blueprint for resetting the vaccine rollout must come out of the latest National Cabinet, as an expert makes a shock prediction on how long it could otherwise take.

A blueprint for Australia’s coronavirus vaccine “reset” must come out of today’s National Cabinet, the peak body representing doctors says, as an expert warns it could take four years to jab three-quarters of the country if we don’t pick up the pace.

National Cabinet, meeting for the second time this week, is expected to make decisions about how Australia’s sluggish vaccine rollout will be recalibrated.

Government leaders have already agreed in principle to bring forward the jab schedule for 5.7 million Australians aged 50 to 69.

But the Australian Medical Association and GPs have warned the government needs to shore up supply and distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine, so there is enough stock in clinics to deal with the inevitable added demand.

Apart from supply confidence, the AMA has also asked the Government to better manage the national discussion on vaccine benefits, as parts of the population shy away from the jab due to concerns about rare blood clotting side effects tied to the AstraZeneca jab.

Authorities have been clear that for people aged 50 and above, getting vaccinated against coronavirus far outweighs the risks of exceptional rare side effects linked to AstraZeneca.

Registered nurse Teagan Black administers the AstraZeneca vaccine to Robyn Chant of Narangba at Health Hub Doctors Morayfield. Picture: Steve Pohlner

It comes as Queensland GPs question the need for mass vaccination hubs before stocks of the Pfizer vaccine increase at the end of the year.

Health Hub Doctors Morayfield’s Dr Evan Jones said the rollout was less “mass vaccination” and more “mass counselling” as GPs tackled vaccine hesitancy.

“We are spending much more time with patients, and rightly so, because they want to be reassured about the vaccine they are receiving,” he said.

Royal Australia College of General Practitioners vice president Bruce Willett, who is Queensland-based, said there was anecdotal evidence that vaccine hesitancy was higher at big jab sites rather than in GP clinics.

He said the most efficient way to roll out the vaccine at the moment was to increase the supply of AstraZeneca to GPs, so that the workhorses of the jab program can work at full capacity.

Dr Willett said he was receiving 100 doses a week at his clinic, which was being used up within hours.

Dr Jones, who receives 2000 jabs a week across his clinics, said he has the manpower and capability to administer between 14,000 and 20,000 doses a week.

Meanwhile, infectious disease expert Dr Sanjaya Senanayake has slammed Australia’s handling of the vaccine rollout as disappointing.

More than 1.7 million COVID-19 doses have been administered so far, with 64,000 jabs in arms in the 24 hours to Wednesday.

“We really have to get it right because at this rate it’s going to be just under four years before 75 per cent of the population gets two doses of vaccine,” he told ABC Breakfast.