Australia slow to deliver vital COVID vaccines, figures show

New figures seen by The Daily Telegraph show an alarming look at the national vaccine rollout – with NSW struggling to inject barely half of allocated jabs.

Several states in Australia — including NSW — 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.

Allocation figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show NSW has only administered about 50 per cent of the 190,610 doses it has received, while Queensland, now officially a Commonwealth COVID-19 hotspot, has only administered about 55 per cent of the vaccines it has been given.

NSW and many other Australian states are struggling to fully deliver the COVID vaccine. Picture: Michal Cizek/AFP

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.

The states’ approximate delivery success rates are based on analysis of the latest data, comparing the number of Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses given to each state as of March 29, to the total jabs they administered as of March 28.

As the states stall, GP clinics have surged ahead with the rollout, delivering more than 120,000 vaccines in one week.

The Queensland government has claimed its poor rollout record was due to a need to hold back second doses of the Pfizer jab, which must be given three weeks apart.

Professor Paul Kelly has urged states to ensure their supplies are being administered. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

But the state has been ­repeatedly told this is not a ­requirement, with Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly debunking the myth again yesterday: “There is no need for a state or territory to be keeping any vaccine aside for (second doses), that is the Commonwealth’s responsibility.”

Prof Kelly said he would not “call out” any particular state or territory, but urged them to make sure what supply they did have was being administered.

“We are encouraging all of our partners, once that vaccine is there, to make bookings available to people.”

Prof Kelly acknowledged “until recently” everyone had been impacted by “limited supply”. “It’s been shared around to the states and territories, now to GPs, respiratory clinics, and into aged care and disability care, and we are getting those out the door as quickly as we can,” he said.

Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said he believed the production of one million AstraZeneca doses locally would speed up the rollout, but agreed states could be doing more with what they have now.

“I’d like to see bigger percentages given out,” he said.

Prof Collignon said decisions in Europe which meant about three million AstraZeneca doses initially expected to be delivered to Australia in March had unfairly impacted the government’s rollout plan.

“In Phase 1A and 1B there are about six or seven million people, so you need 14 million doses,” he said. “With the ­influenza vaccination we manage to get through 10 to 12 million people a year over three months, so it’s doable.”

On Monday Australia gave out a record 55,597 vaccines in one day.

Originally published as Australia slow to deliver vital COVID vaccines, figures show