Coronavirus: Scott Morrison takes aim at Europe after revelations of vaccine export crackdown
The EU has not responded to Scott Morrison’s request for emergency vaccines to be sent to Papua New Guinea amid fears of a crackdown on jab exports.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has championed Australia’s medical professionals as the nation prepares for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Speaking from Melbourne, Mr Morrison said, “as we get through the balance of the population, we need to ensure that this is done safely and it’s done through the networks which we know can be trusted to care for Australians, and that is our GPs.”
Mr Morrison said the national collaboration of GPs and nurses around the country is “a great time that we’re seeing our medical professionals stepping up in a great national cause.
“My primary message is thank you for the work you’ve done to date … and the care and support you’ll provide in the many months ahead of us. Together, we’ll get this done. I have no doubt, we’ll get this done. The plans are there, the vaccines are there, you’re there, and that means that we can be, I think, very confident that in the many months, as we get to the end of October, that first dose will be administered, and we’ll keep focusing on ensuring that the supply lines … keep true and strong.”
PM FIRES WARNING SHOTS
Earlier, the Prime Minister fired a warning shot at the European Union following revelations tighter export controls could be imposed on overseas vaccine shipments.
The Prime Minister on Friday revealed he was yet to receive a response to Australia’s request for one million doses of their contracted AstraZeneca vials to help Papua New Guinea contain its ballooning COVID-19 outbreak.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen received the letter on Wednesday, with a spokeswoman confirming the EC would “reply in due time”.
But Mr Morrison said Australia would be taking the issue up “very strongly”.
“It is not right for advanced countries in Europe to deny the supply of vaccines to developing countries who need it desperately like Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“We’ll do our bit. We’ll pay the freight, as we are, and for the product.
“They won’t be out of pocket, but they will be helping a country that is in desperate need of receiving those vaccines.”
Mr Morrison said Australian authorities were working closely with its quad partners – the US, Japan and India – on the issue of access to vaccines for PNG, adding they have made a commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
The toughened stance comes after Ms von der Leyen this week threatened to ban overseas vaccine shipments to safeguard enough doses for European citizens.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan said European export controls had already prevented some of the AstraZeneca vials from Italy coming to Australia earlier this month.
“We’ve taken that up with the European Union,” Mr Tehan told 3AW.
“I’ve spoken to their Trade Minister myself to say that this is not the way that we want the European Union behaving.
“I’ve also spoken to the head of the World Trade Organisation.”
Countries including France and Italy will restart their rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a host of nations paused their immunisation plans over concerns about patients getting blood clots.
However, overnight, the European Medicines Agency gave the vaccine the green light, saying protection from being hospitalised or dying from the virus outweighs any “possible risk”.
Australian health experts have resisted calls to follow the European countries and halt our vaccine rollout, maintaining it was safe and effective.
PREMIER ATTACKS COVID JAB ROLLOUT
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has again taken aim at the federal government for the speed of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Ms Berejiklian has mainted over past months that the Morrison government should be more transparent about the rollout, and has suggested NSW assist in order to have as many people vaccinated as possible.
“If we are serious about getting the roll out done by October, then we need all hands on deck not some hands on deck,” she told a press conference this morning.
The Premier said she was in talks with NSW health authorities to establish the state’s vaccination capacity, with plans to present it to the federal government as an opportunity to expand the program.
PM: JOBKEEPER ‘HAS DONE ITS JOB’
Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 per cent, according to latest figures, which the Prime Minister said indicates “our plan is working”.
The number of Australians employed increased by 89,000 between January and February, to reach just over 13 million.
The unemployment rate has declined by 0.5 percentage points to 5.8 per cent, with unemployment decreasing by 70,000 people, Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force data released yesterday showed.
“It has been an extraordinary year in Australia’s fightback in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters today.
“While it has been an absolutely terrible year, a year of uncertainty, of hardship, of terrible loss here in Australia, but frankly all around the world and in so many parts of the world that loss still runs on, it accelerates, it devastates.
“But while all of that is true in Australia we have seen one of the most remarkable performances of Australians in our Australian economy that we have seen,” Mr Morrison said.
“In less than 12 months from when the recession began, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now more jobs in the Australian economy than there were before the pandemic.”
Mr Morrison said the government’s moves to restore the economy was working.
“Our plan is working,” he said.
“That is something that is truly remarkable and is a great credit to every Australian who hung in there, every Australian business who kept people in jobs,” he said.
But Mr Morrison warned there was still more to do, including boosting the number of hours people were working.
“Particularly for young people,” he said. “Even though the youth unemployment rate has pleasingly fallen, there is still a distance to travel.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the strength and resilience of the Australian economy was again on display.
“What is particularly pleasing in these numbers is that of that 88,700 jobs, all of them were full-time,“ Mr Frydenberg said.
“More than 80 per cent went to women and more than 480 per cent went to young people.”
Mr Frydenberg said the months ahead will continue to be challenging but “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”.
“There are sectors, there are regions across the country who continue to do it tough, but these numbers are encouraging and these numbers give Australians confidence about their economic future,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg said the road after the JobKeeper wage subsidy – which ends on March 28 – would be bumpy and challenging.
But he said the economic support would continue after the program ended.
“JobKeeper must come to an end. It has done its job,” Mr Morrison said.
The Prime Minister remained tight-lipped on whether companies that made a profit last year should pay back JobKeeper – but said profitable companies put people in work and invested in the economy.
The labour figures show full-time employment increased by 89,000 people, of which 69,000 were women.
GPS BLAST GOVERNMENT OVER VACCINE
Doctors inundated with requests for COVID vaccine appointments have slammed the government for failing to manage community expectations as the slow supply of vaccines is not up to meeting demand.
The first 1,100 GP practices allowed to dispense the vaccines were inundated with calls from people trying to book appointments after their details were released by the government yesterday.
Elderly people desperate for the vaccine were left on hold on the telephone for more than half-an-hour at a time trying to make an appointment only to be rejected by multiple clinics which said they did not have enough vaccine to accommodate them.
The Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said the government must warn the public they may have to wait weeks to get an appointment.
“Unlike the flu season, where 15 million doses are already stockpiled, this rollout relies on a weekly supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses that is capped,” the groups said in a statement.
Some GP practices have been given just 50 or 100 doses of the vaccine.
“This means that general practices will have only a modest number of doses available for patients for now”.
“It’s clear from the calls many general practices have received this morning that the Government needs to better communicate with the community on the vaccine rollout process, and not build unrealistic expectations, particularly at this early stage,” the organisations said.
Meanwhile Health Minister Greg Hunt abruptly updated the rules applying to the program today.
Yesterday his office confirmed GPs had to accept any eligible patients for vaccination on a first come, first served basis regardless of whether they were regular patients at the GP clinic.
“It’s just a minor correction to that which was published today … who a practice takes is a matter of for a general practice, but as to the fact that it has to be bulk billed, it does have to be bulk billed,” he said.
Only 4,500 of the nation’s over 6,000 GP practices have applied to deliver the vaccine so this complicates the task of getting a vaccine for patients whose GP clinics are not delivering it.
Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Chris Moy told News Corp the vaccine rollout had “ boiled over”.
“The excitement is boiled over to a sense that, patient are expecting that suddenly they’ll get to make appointments with a clinic practice is only going to have a small amount of vaccine,” he said.
HUNT SAYS GP VACCINATIONS WILL START NEXT WEEK
More than 1000 GPs will start vaccinating Australians from next week.
Over 70s and over 80s will be able to vaccinate as part of the 1b phase.
“We have 98 per cent take-up at this stage among GPs who have applied and been accepted,” Mr Hunt said.
“They have placed orders and we have over 1000 and 69 that have placed orders and have had their details provided publicly.
“Additionally, there will be over 100 Commonwealth vaccination clinics that will be made available.”
The Health Minister said today marked a milestone with more than 200,000 Australians vaccinated including at more than 500 aged care centres taking in 45,000 aged care residents.
National COVD testing has passed 50 million, he added.
“When you think of two potential outbreaks into state on the weekend, with one follow-up case, that is an extraordinary side of containment capacity,” Mr Hunt said, referring to the latest case in NSW.
Brendan Murphy urged Australians to be patient: “It is going to take many weeks to get through 1B, and while some GP clinics are coming online next week, they won’t
be releasing appointments until they are sure of their vaccine deliveries, which are coming in the next day or two, and there will progressively release appointments.
“Please do not badger your GPs, take your time, everyone in 1B will be vaccinated in coming weeks. But it will take a while for this to scale up.”
It comes as GP clinics went into meltdown today as thousands of elderly people rushed to make COVID vaccine appointments in time for next week’s rollout but there was not enough vaccine to cope with demand.
Many patients were kept on hold, others were told they couldn’t make an appointment because there was not enough vaccine, others were trying to charge for the vaccine.
Some general practitioners were refusing to provide appointments to people who were not on their books even though this is against the rules of the program.
Tony Juhanson, aged 74, from Mount Camel in Victoria was incensed when a GP clinic in Bendigo insisted he pay for an initial appointment to check whether he was fit to receive the vaccine.
He would then have to return for a second free appointment to get the vaccine, he told News Corp.
“We need to get it out in the open that doctors surely can’t be making money to give access to a free government vaccination, I don’t think that’s right,” he said.
Bendigo MP Lisa Chester said her office had been bombarded with calls about problems getting a vaccine appointment.
“When they then ring the clinic they’re being told we’re not taking any bookings, we don’t have the vaccine yet call back later, or they’re being told, unless you’re a patient of ours, we actually don’t know when we can get to you,” she said.
The Health Minister Greg Hunt needed to act to restore confidence in the vaccine problem, Ms Chester said.
“It’s unacceptable and it’s not fair on the staff in these clinics that they’re getting bombarded by people saying but the websites said that I can book,” she said.
“Our medical staff shouldn’t have to be having that conversation, just because the Prime Minister wanted to make a big fancy announcement and say you can get it from today, or you can get it from the 22nd without having that support ready on the ground. This is not the time to be creating confusion about a National Vaccine rollout,” she said.
Originally published as Coronavirus: Scott Morrison takes aim at Europe after revelations of vaccine export crackdown
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