NSW floods: COVID vaccine rollout delayed as rain cuts off delivery routes

The planned rollout of phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccination program has hit a snag, with NSW’s flood crisis delaying the supply of the vaccines.

Heavy rainfall and floods will delay the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in NSW, as the wild weather cuts off delivery routes and forces GP clinics to close in parts of the state.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said health officials were aware of “some delays” in delivery of doses of the vaccine ahead of Phase 1B starting on Monday.

“The distributors are doing all they can to ensure timely deliveries and we thank them for the work that they are doing, but they will be some inevitable delays due to the weather,” he said.

“Safety has to come first, (for) the staff and patients and for the people delivering the vaccines.”

COVID-19 vaccines will be delayed thanks to the Sydney floods. Picture: Piroschka van de Wouw/AFP

Prof Kidd said more than 1000 scheduled deliveries had already been made nationally.

“The remaining are ready to go as soon as roads are safe and practices are able to reopen and receive the deliveries,” he said.

About 1000 GP practices will progressively come online from this week to administer jabs to people over the age of 70, healthcare and other frontline workers including fire, defence, police and meat processing workers.

Prof Kidd could not give an exact figure on the number of vaccine deliveries in NSW impacted by the weather, or how long the delays would last.

The length of the delays are unknown. Picture: Supplied

“Obviously we have to wait and see what happens with the weather over the coming days until we know when those vaccines are going to be able to be delivered,” he said.

“Some of the practices themselves have had to close as a result of the flooding and severe weather conditions.”

Despite the “inevitable” delays, Prof Kidd said the government remained confident in its goal to give out six million vaccines by the week of May 10, and expected GPs would eventually be administering 400,000 jabs every week as Phase 1B ramped up.