COVID vaccine Victoria: Why many of Melbourne’s frontline workers haven’t had the jab

A third of frontline workers due to be vaccinated by now are yet to get the jab — so why is this empty hub turning eager Victorians away?

One of Melbourne’s COVID-19 mass vaccination centres has been ordered to turn away eligible residents despite only a trickle of emergency services workers booking in for shots.

Hospital staff working at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre hub say it has been set up to vaccinate up to 2400 people a day, but they are so far seeing only a tenth of those numbers. Only 15 of its 40 cubicles are even operating.

Insiders blame a bungled booking system and hesitancy among some emergency workers for stalling the program, despite concerns the resumption of international arrivals will heighten the risk of another outbreak.

The Andrews government warned it planned for a “slow and steady” start to the phase 1B rollout.

An empty Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied via ABC Melbourne

However, a third of Victoria’s frontline workers due to be vaccinated in the first phase of the rollout are yet to get the jab.

Andrews Government Minister Danny Pearson confirmed that two thirds of workers in phase 1A of the program had received their dose.

Asked whether the rollout would be sped up for frontline workers, he said: “I think that is probably a question better directed to (Health) Minister (Martin) Foley than I.

“What I would say is that we are absolutely committed to making sure our healthcare workers get vaccinated.”

Victoria administered its 100,000th vaccination on Monday, with 6356 doses given out on Tuesday – the most in a single day.

Mr Pearson said he could not respond to reports that Victoria had administered just 44 per cent of the doses allocated to the state by the federal government.

Only a fraction of vaccine recipients has attended the hub. Picture: Supplied via ABC Melbourne

“I haven’t seen those reports,” he said, before adding that the rollout appeared to be “working well”.

To make up for a lack of emergency worker bookings, Royal Melbourne staff operating the Jeff’s Shed site on Southbank began vaccinating eligible walk-in elderly and vulnerable residents, until being ordered to stop by the Department of Health on Tuesday.

One senior hospital source said: “Our teams are standing around turning away people. The capability is there and they just want to do their job as they are passionate about the vaccinations.

“We are not doing the numbers we are set up for. We have the vaccine, we just want to administer it — and the emergency workers are not turning up.”

The current 1B phase of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been split into two streams, with the federal government overseeing shots for the elderly and other eligible residents via GP clinics, while state governments are responsible for vaccinating healthcare and emergency services workers.

To meet the demand, the Andrews government established several mass vaccination hubs, including at Jeff’s Shed.

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was set up to vaccinate over 2400 people everyday. Picture: Tim Carrafa

The Department of Health ordered the Royal Melbourne to stop allowing walk-ins. Picture: Wayne Taylor.

But multiple medical sources claim bugs in the ­Department of Health’s $5.8m vaccination management tool bought from Microsoft has contributed to a slow uptake among emergency workers.

They claim electronic vaccination invites sent to some emergency workers either did not contain the links needed to book a jab, or did not work properly.

Walk-in cases boosted vaccinations at Jeff’s Shed to about 300 on Monday, however the Department of Health on Tuesday ordered the Royal Melbourne to end the practice and to only offer shots to emergency workers under the state-run program.

Victoria’s COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said the state was ahead of its schedule for vaccinating priority groups, with up to 60 booths at other hubs.

He said 4000 Victorians had been vaccinated between the two CBD hubs — Jeff’s Shed and the Royal Exhibition Building — since opening on March 22, and it was critical to focus supplies on those they were allocated for.

A number of hubs were established around Melbourne to boost the rollout. Picture: Jason Edwards

“The majority of vaccines are already reserved for GP clinics. It’s important that large sites managed by health services focus on our critical health and emergency workers,” Mr Weimar said.

“All vaccination clinics are by ­appointment. That’s the same whether you’re getting vaccinated through your GP, or through a hospital, or at a high-volume site.”

Mr Weimar said more than 10,000 email booking invitations had been sent to emergency services workers to get vaccinated at the CBD hubs, giving recipients the option to book via phone or email as well as the online system.

But Australian Medical ­Association Victorian president Associate Professor ­Julian Rait said the booking system needed to be ­improved immediately.

“We are very concerned that we have heard of issues with the booking system and they need to be addressed so the efficiency of the centres is improved,” he said.

The hubs were aimed at vaccinating emergency workers. Picture: Jason Edwards

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the Andrews government had had months to prepare for the rollout, and having doctors and nurses “sitting around doing nothing is such a waste at a critical time”.

Michael and his wife, who asked not to be named, turned up for a vaccination at the MCEC at 4pm on Tuesday but were turned away.

“It’s just disgusting because look at how many people are standing there doing nothing,” Michael, 74, said. “I’d understand if they were busy.”

Greg, 72, was also turned away despite few others being present at Jeff’s Shed, saying he was under the impression “you just walk in”.

“My brother and another friend came yesterday and just walked in,” he said.

Also refused a vaccination were friends Robert Cummins, 76, and Max Armstrong, 77, of Southbank, who said they were confused and disappointed.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FALLS FLAT ON VACCINE TARGET

The Morrison government has come nowhere near meeting its aim to vaccinate four million people by the end of March.

Just over 13 per cent of that target, or half a million COVID-19 vaccine doses, has been administered as of March 28.

Health authorities on Tuesday celebrated the record number of 55,950 vaccines put into arms around Australia in one day.

But this falls well short of the government’s target, spruiked by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in early January.

“We hope by the … end of March, I should say, to have reached some four million population,” Mr Morrison said.

“That is a target. That is what we are working to.”

Come January 25, the goalposts started to shift when issues around international vaccine shipments became apparent.

“The events of recent weeks, I think, will mean that four million position will be something that is going to be achieved in early April, as opposed to late March,” Mr Morrison said.

“That is the reality of dealing with international arrangements.”

Speaking in Adelaide on Wednesday, Mr Morrison said more than 650,000 vaccines had been delivered.

Read the full version of this story, here.

OUR HALF-HEARTED VACCINE ROLLOUT

Several states in Australia — including Victoria — have struggled to get barely half of the COVID-19 vaccines they have been given by the federal government into the arms of the most vulnerable and at risk people.

Victoria has only delivered about 44 per cent of its jabs, Western Australia has topped the country with 62 per cent, South Australia has done 35 per cent, Tasmania achieved 59 per cent, the ACT completed 57 per cent and the Northern Territory has done 53 per cent.

The states have been tasked with vaccinating priority frontline workers, inclu­ding ICU nurses and hotel quarantine staff, in Phase 1A, while the federal government covers aged and disability care residents.

The slow inoculation figures come as Australia’s vaccination rate per 100 people is being outstripped by countries such as Indonesia, Albania, Bolivia, Rwanda and Azerbaijan.

Read the full story.