Qld vaccine rollout slowed down after botched jabs
A vaccine bungle which saw two elderly Queenslanders injected with the wrong dose of COVID-19 vaccine will now slow down the rollout of immunisations across the state.
The federal rollout of COVID-19 in Queensland aged care homes has been slowed down and knocked-off schedule by the botched immunisation which saw two elderly patients given four-times the recommended dose.
The CEO of Healthcare Australia has been stood aside by the company and new management will be put in place, Health Minister Greg Hunt also revealed.
A new provider has also been appointed to help catch up on the vaccination process for aged care in the state.
Deputy Chief Medical officer Michael Kidd apologised for what he described as human error, but a serious error, saying the company was “clearly at fault”.
The 94-year-old woman given an overdose of COVID-19 vaccine is in good health was sent home from hospital after lunch on Thursday, while the 88-year-old man was also not showing any side effects but was staying in the hospital for an unrelated surgery.
Mr Hunt confirmed there had been a slowdowns of the rollout as the company was forced to review its processes and practices.
“HealthCare Australia, has slowed down their rollout in response to a demand from the department that they provide an absolute guarantee of clinical certainty and quality,” Mr Hunt said.
Former Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Deb Thoms has been appointed by the Federal Government to review Healthcare Australia’s practices and procedures.
Prof Kidd also confirmed the company had initially advised in writing that all their immunisers had completed the required vaccination training, but later rescinded this advice.
“HealthCare Australia, HCA, is clearly at fault here,” Prof Kidd said.
“This doctor should not have been permitted to carry out these vaccinations without having completed the required training.
“This doctor should not have been permitted to carry out these vaccinations without proof of his completion of training being sighted by the company.”
He said he had now independently verified that all other immunisers working for HCA had completed the training and committed to doing the same for other providers.
There were expected to be 240 aged care facilities fully vaccinated in the first week of the rollout, while there have been about 70 completed to date.
Mr Hunt said he expected the 240 target to be reached within three days of the Sunday deadline.
In a statement, Healthcare Australia chairman Daren McKennay said the organisation shared the community’s “serious concerns” about the Brisbane overdosing incident and had immediately started an internal review to determine how it had occurred.
“We apologise unreservedly to the patients and their families involved for the distress this has caused and assure the community that the error was isolated and will not be repeated,” he said.
“While the review is being finalised, Healthcare Australia CEO Jason Cartwright has agreed to step aside from his role and an interim CEO with extensive experience in the health sector will be imminently appointed.
“We will further strengthen the Healthcare Australia management team with additional executive support.”
Queensland recorded one new case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the 24 hours to today, taking the number of confirmed infections in the state to 1324.
Eight of those cases remain active. The latest case was overseas acquired in a person who was in hotel quarantine.
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