Lucy Carne: Politicians are telling it like it isn’t in vaccine ‘race’

Surely, if we want to vaccinate the nation swiftly, it’s time to scrap age restrictions and make all vaccines available to anyone, writes Lucy Carne.

Don’t know about you, but the more I try to understand the vaccine rollout, the more confused I get.

Of course, I’m a steadfast supporter of the Covid vaccine, but I’m struggling to build immunity to the baffling messages dosed up by state and federal leaders as we stagger toward a (seemingly unlikely) target of 95 per cent of Australians fully vaccinated this year.

But it’s not a race, okay. Or is it? Honestly, I don’t even know.

We were repeatedly assured by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the vaccination rollout was “not a race” and “not a competition”.

“It’s not a race,” Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said on Sky last Sunday. “It has to be systematic … we can’t have everyone getting it at the same time.”

Trade Minister Dan Tehan was reluctant to equate the rollout to a “race”, but instead said we had to make the vaccination target as fast as we could.

“The Melbourne Cup is a race. The Stawell Gift is a race,” he said on the ABC. “When it comes to vaccines, what we’re trying to do is make sure we get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can.”

But the OECD, now run by Australia’s former finance minister Mathias Cormann, has confirmed that “we are in a race to vaccinate”.

“Speeding up vaccine production and rollout is the best economic policy available today to boost growth and job creation,” the OECD said.

Yet astonishingly, more than 56 Queensland state MPs were, as of Friday, yet to be vaccinated, including Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

People in Brisbane wait for the covid vaccination at the Rocklea Showgrounds Covid hub. Picture: Annette Dew

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (who had the AstraZeneca vaccine) said she wanted the rollout happening as fast as possible. “I do have a sense of urgency about it,” she said.

But federal Health Minister Greg Hunt seemed less rushed, saying: “We want to encourage everybody over 50 to be vaccinated as early as possible. But we’ve been very clear that, as supply increases later on in the year, there will be enough … mRNA vaccines for every Australian.”

Meanwhile, the Minister for Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck last week said he was “comfortable” with the pace of the rollout, despite being unable to confirm how many aged care workers had been vaccinated.

I feel like I’ve watched this episode of The Thick of It.

I can picture political spin doctor Malcolm Tucker barging into Parliament House offices spewing obscenities and threats of physical violence in his enraged Scottish accent: “If you f***ing say one more f***ing time that this is not a f***ing race …”

But this isn’t a fictional comedy. This is 17 months of a global pandemic in which our lives and livelihoods are at risk.

The sovereign vaccine plan, which was meant to inspire hope in the nation, is a shambles with conflicting criteria across the states, especially for those aged under 50.

For instance, in South Australia, anyone over 16 can get a Covid vaccination at a regional vaccination clinic if they live in a regional council area. But in Adelaide, you’ve got to be over 50.

Criteria on who can get a vaccination differs from state to state. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In NSW you must register your interest to go on a vaccine waitlist if you’re aged 40-49. But young Sydneysiders sick of waiting weeks for an appointment confirmation have reportedly circulated a secret NSW Health link that allows them to jump the queue and get jabbed the next day.

The Queensland Health website declares 40-49 year olds can now register for a jab at a government vaccination location. But the site also advises to check the Eligibility Tracker, which confusingly says you’re ineligible for a Covid vaccination if you’re under 50.

Likewise, Queensland’s super vaccination centres suddenly opened to everyone over 40, due to looming vaccine expiration dates. Except don’t go if you’re over 50, Queensland Health’s website says, because you need to go to your GP instead.

And if you head to the Australian Government’s website, you’ll find a bewildering 1,827 words explaining who can get vaccinated under 1b.

It’s staggering that we’re still stumbling through this rollout.

Surely if we want to vaccinate the population swiftly, it’s time to scrap age restrictions and make all vaccines available to anyone?

Enlist Aldi’s efficient checkout staff to do the jabs – throw in a ski jacket with your vaccine and you’ll get the masses vaccinated in no time.

In all seriousness, I think we can agree this is a time of uncertainty. Politicians are making tough decisions under extreme pressure.

But how can they instil confidence in the public when they can’t agree on a unified vaccine message or even get their own jab on time?

We’re not asking for much from those leading us through this pandemic: be clear, admit mistakes and let us know, once and for all, is it a race or isn’t it?