GPs criticise Annastacia Palaszczuk for COVID vaccine delay
Frustrated doctors say Annastacia Palaszczuk’s decision to receive the Pfizer vaccine is going to lead to “long and complex” conversations with patients.
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Frustrated doctors are preparing for ‘long and complex’ conversations with patients who are questioning whether they can follow Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and receive a Pfizer vaccination, Queensland GPs say.
The Premier received her first Pfizer shot on Monday ahead of a potential trip to Tokyo for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic bid. Her second shot will come within weeks.
But vaccine experts say that the Premier, who is over 50 and has been eligible for the AstraZeneca jab since May 3, could have had her second AstraZeneca shot 11 weeks later on July 18 and still be protected for her trip to Japan.
“AstraZeneca gives most of its protection in the first shot and the second is more of a booster whereas Pfizer requires the two shots for maximum 92 per cent protection. Pfizer does not give faster protection,” Queensland chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Bruce Willett said.
Infectious disease expert Professor Robert Booy said that you lose only three or four per cent efficacy by giving the second AstraZeneca at 11 weeks rather than 12.
GPs report that patients spend a lot of time in consultation questioning why some people are able to get Pfizer and not others.
“Patients will be querying the eligibility criteria following the Premier’s public vaccination. Doctors have to explain that both vaccines work really well,” frontline doctor and General Practice Gold Coast chair Kat McLean said.
Dr Willett said the message would be clearer to the public if everyone stuck to the eligibility criteria set out by the Commonwealth Government.
Ms Palaszczuk was eligible for Pfizer in the 1b vaccine round but missed that opportunity.
The Opposition has taken aim at the Premier’s ‘absolute joke’ vaccination schedule and urged her to ditch the Tokyo Olympics to instead focus on Queensland’s COVID-19 recovery.
“It’s an absolute joke and debacle and basket case and where the Queensland community is looking for stability and guidance they’ve got nothing from the Premier,” Opposition Finance spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said.
“The excuses are never ending with the Premier, the reality is she should have got the Covid jab months ago and she didn’t.”
Mr Bleijie said it was “not fair” for the Premier to fly to Tokyo while Queenslanders could not travel internationally.
“I don’t think she should go, she has representatives,” he said.
“The Premier, in a crisis, should be at home.”
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said there were “many opportunities” for Ms Palaszczuk to receive the jab.
“People can cast their own judgment about reasons why the Premier wasn’t vaccinated,” he said.
“It’s an important step for Queensland but I’m not sure that’s justification for the Premier saying that she needed to get a certain type of vaccine at a certain date.”
Mr Crisafulli said he wrote to the Premier in February suggesting the pair receive a COVID-19 jab together to increase community certainty, however received no response.
lethbridge’s view p63
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