Qld defends vaccine rollout pace amid Opposition criticism

Queensland’s Health Minister has accused the Commonwealth of undermining the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, blaming supply for the vaccine and geography for the slow process.

Queensland’s Health Minister has accused the Federal Government of undermining the COVID-19 vaccine rollout by “pointing the finger” at states for stockpiling doses.

The state recorded six new cases of COVID-19 as of Monday morning, with all detected in hotel quarantine.

It comes as a war of words continue between Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and the Federal Government over claims Queensland is lagging behind other states in administering the COVID-19 vaccination.

Ms D’Ath said stockpiling the jab – which the Commonwealth is also doing – would ensure a second dose could be administered and protect against any supply issues.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and this isn’t a competition as to which state can do more,” she said.

“If we were not holding on to supply to ensure a second dose we would not be able to fully vaccinate.

Yvette D'Ath has slammed the Opposition and Commonwealth for criticising the state’s vaccine rollout. Picture: John Gass

“It’s really getting frustrating to hear these criticism by the Opposition as they don’t that understand we have no certainty going forward of how much vaccine is going to arrive in Queensland, how much we’re going to get and when we’re going to get it.”

On Sunday it was revealed the state had more than 66,560 doses and had administered 18,411 jabs.

Ms D’Ath said population and geography discrepancies meant comparing Queensland’s vaccine rollout with other states was “not apples with apples”.

“Let’s stop pointing the finger at everyone and just get on with rolling the vaccine out,” she said.

“We need it to be a success.”

Opposition Health spokeswoman Ros Bates doubled down on her calls for the state to fast track the rollout.

“By tomorrow there would have been 93,000 vials of vaccine in the fridges in those hospitals that are supposed to be making sure it’s getting into the arms of Queenslanders,” she said.

“It’s in a fridge – we need to roll it out.

“You can’t blame the Federal Government for the fact this government is going slow.”

Originally published as Qld defends vaccine rollout pace amid Opposition criticism