Only a third of QLD aged care workers jabbed as September 17 deadline looms

Aged care workers have just 10 weeks to get at least one Covid jab if they want to keep their jobs, as new figures reveal just how many workers have managed to get the vaccine.

Only a third of Queensland’s residential aged care workers have received a Covid-19 jab five months into the rollout new data has revealed, with just 10 weeks left to cover the rest of the workforce before the government’s deadline.

Aged care workers will need to have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by September 17 as mandated by national cabinet if they want to keep their jobs, but five months into the rollout just 40 per cent of the workforce nationally had received a jab.

In Queensland, about 16,000 workers out of 50,000 had received at least one jab and as of last Thursday 16 per cent of the workforce were fully vaccinated.

Health Minister Greg Hunt and vaccine rollout lead Lieutenant General John Frewen on Monday afternoon met with aged care providers and union heads to discuss how to make the rollout more efficient with just 10 weeks left until the September 17 deadline.

Mr Hunt asserted he was still confident the deadline would be met saying there was “a series of ways” to offer every aged care worker a dose.

All aged care residents and staff were meant to be vaccinated in the first phase of the vaccination rollout, which began in February and was meant to be completed in six weeks.

A health department spokesman said there would be a “significant expansion of workplace vaccinations and access to vaccines in the community in the coming weeks”.

“(Thus) making access quicker and simpler ahead of that deadline”.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus, emerging from the meeting with Mr Hunt and government officials, underlined the need for paid vaccine leave so workers could get the jab without impacting their hours.

She also called for staff to be able to be vaccinated at work and mentioned the issues were due to be discussed further in a couple of weeks.

“Everything that can be done to make the process of getting aged care workers vaccinated as simple as possible, needs to be done,” Ms McManus said.

“Without these changes it will be very difficult for thousands of aged care workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) were holding an urgent meeting late on Monday to consider lowering the recommended age group for the AstraZeneca jab due to the growing outbreak in NSW.

A change to that recommendation would be based on the increased risk of people younger than 60 contracting Covid-19 while the Delta variant is spreading rapidly through Sydney.

NSW authorities had already made the AstraZeneca vaccine available at pharmacies and NSW Health vaccination centres for those aged 40 to 59.

It’s understood the Prime Minister and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg were also locked in “advanced discussions” with the New South Wales government on an economic support package to help the state’s economy amid an unabating Covid-19 outbreak on Monday.