Three Victorians at the centre of the outbreak not vaccinated despite being eligible
Three Victorians aged over 50 at the centre of the state’s latest coronavirus outbreak, and a GP who treated one of them, hadn’t been vaccinated despite being eligible.
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Three Victorians aged over 50 at the centre of the state’s latest coronavirus outbreak hadn’t been vaccinated despite being eligible, increasing pressure on the federal government over its flagging jabs rollout.
The Herald Sun can also reveal that even a doctor who made a house call to another infected person hadn’t received the vaccine, and must now get tested and isolate.
Melbourne was plunged into a fresh round of restrictions, including mandatory mask-wearing indoors and caps on gatherings, as five new cases emerged on Tuesday, taking the total to nine.
Epidemiologists said the outbreak should be the “kick in the pants” people needed to get vaccinated, as Victoria criticised the federal government over its failure to vaccinate disability care residents – some of the state’s most vulnerable.
Australia is ranked 113th among the world’s countries for total doses per 100 residents, falling behind Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Seychelles, according to Our World in Data.
Victorian health officials have for months been asking the federal government to boost the vaccine rollout in Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs where the latest cluster has emerged.
Of the nine cases that have so far emerged in the new outbreak, the ages of five people have been released, and sources confirmed that none of the three aged over 50 had been vaccinated.
The ages of the other four, and their vaccination status, have not yet been revealed.
Leading epidemiologist Tony Blakely said opening more mass vaccination sites was “the most important thing” to speed up the rollout.
“Can we do more to speed up? Yes,” he said.
“Mass vaccination sites are a no-brainer.”
The University of Melbourne professor said the latest outbreak should be a “kick in the pants” for Victorians to get inoculated, and the government should consider advertising campaigns, giveaways and incentives, including stickers that say “I got vaccinated today”.
He said having 25 per cent of people vaccinated was “as effective as wearing masks to reduce transmission”.
Prof Blakely also said that excess supply of AstraZeneca, left over because people were not turning up to appointments, should be given to people in Melbourne’s north who wanted a shot.
Federal opposition health spokesman Mark Butler said he was concerned vulnerable people were left unprotected – unvaccinated with winter just a week away.
“Scott Morrison has become dangerously complacent about the shockingly slow pace of this rollout, and the big increases in vaccine hesitancy that have happened on his watch,” Mr Butler said.
“At the moment we have a tiny percentage of the population vaccinated, we have quarantine facilities that continue to leak cases into the community, and these are all a product of failures by the Prime Minister.”
The Herald Sun can also reveal that Victorian Disability Minister Luke Donnellan wrote to the federal government twice in the last two months raising concerns about “the lack of progress on the rollout of the vaccine for this priority group”.
Shocking figures last week revealed that just 999 disability care residents had been inoculated nationwide.
Conceding that more needed to be done, Mr Morrison said the initial data did not include many people with disabilities who had been vaccinated but he could not give an updated figure.
Health Department figures now show 8440 doses have been administered to 5855 people in the disability sector.
Mr Donnellan told the Herald Sun on Tuesday: “There can’t be any more delays.
“After months of waiting for a vaccine, it is absolutely critical we get the rollout for Victorians living in disability care homes back on track — that needs to start with a clear and transparent plan from the federal government,” he said.
In response to his letters, federal NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds said the government was committed to “prioritising vulnerable Australians”, and had set up special clinics to vaccinate disability workers under 50.
But the first two opened are in NSW.
Acting Premier James Merlino said there were millions of unvaccinated Victorians eligible for the vaccine, and urged them to “get organised today”.
“If you can get vaccinated, please get vaccinated,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “We also encourage all eligible Australians to come forward when it is their turn to be vaccinated. Outbreaks like this one show how important it is for us all to get vaccinated when we can.”
WAKE-UP CALL FOR HESITANT
Melburnians caught up in the latest coronavirus outbreak have endured hours-long waits to be tested, while queues were almost non-existent at vaccination sites.
Waiting times blew out to more than three hours on Tuesday at some testing sites, including Victoria University’s St Albans campus, while Northern Hospital temporarily closed after reaching capacity just after 9.30am.
The Herald Sun spoke to 10 people aged over 50 queuing at the testing site. Two had been vaccinated.
Helen Holden, 56, said she had not yet received a dose, but “definitely” would now.
“Some of my friends who already had it said they’d felt a bit sick after it so I’ve been waiting,” she said.
“Now that I’ve spent more than an hour waiting for a test I’m definitely getting it. I don’t want to have to do this again.”
A man who did not want to be named said he had not been vaccinated despite being eligible as there was “no reason”.
“Now I’ll get it,” he said.
Marco Sorino, 47, who is immunocompromised, said: “I’d rather have the Pfizer but my doctor said AstraZeneca was perfectly safe, so yep, I’ll be getting it.”
At vaccination centres, there were minimal queues.
With or without a booking, people walked straight into the Melbourne Exhibition Centre to receive their AstraZeneca shots.
Amahl Weereratne, 51, said: “There was a little line to get to the desk but the whole process took about three minutes.”
At the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton, people said they had been vaccinated within 30 minutes of arriving.
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