NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner says ‘no need to rush’ COVID-19 vaccine rollout, more important to ‘get it right’

THERE’S ‘no need to rush’ the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in Australia, according to the NT’s Chief Minister Michael Gunner, as he confirmed the Territory’s initial jab hubs will be in Darwin and Alice Springs.

THERE’S “no need to rush” the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in Australia, according to the NT’s Chief Minister Michael Gunner, as he confirmed the Territory’s initial jab hubs will be in Darwin and Alice Springs.

Without making mention of a specific country, Mr Gunner said the Northern Territory and Australia was in a “privileged position” of having the virus under control and could get the vaccine roll out “right the first time”.

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Chief Minister Michael Gunner. Picture: Che Chorley

“We don’t have to go down the path other countries have had to go down, because the vaccine is their only answer with (getting the spread of COVID-19 under control,” he said.

“We have the opportunity to get this right (the) first time, we do not need to rush vaccine delivery in this country, we can get it right.

“I want to get it quick and soon, but more importantly let’s do it right.”

The NT has had no cases of community transmission of coronavirus throughout the pandemic and has so far recorded 99 cases in total, all within quarantine.

Mr Gunner said of the highest importance was ensuring people had “absolute certainty” over the rollout and received both doses of the vaccine.

In the NT, hubs will initially be set up in Darwin and Alice Springs for Phase 1a of the vaccine rollout plan, targeting frontline healthcare, aged care, disability care, and quarantine and border control workers.

This is similar to the plan in Queensland, where the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine will initially be restricted to the state’s major cities until more travel-friendly variants are created.

Mr Gunner said it was most likely Territorians in remote communities would receive the more portable AstraZeneca vaccine, which can be stored and transported at normal refrigeration temperatures of 2C to 8C.

The issue of the Territory’s mobile Aboriginal population and how to ensure they receive both doses of the vaccine within an appropriate time has been raised at the highest level, Mr Gunner confirmed.

“Territorians understand the importance of taking vaccines so that’s not the problem,” he said,

“I want to make sure they know it’s two shots, and we keep that up and that we’ve got good tracking system through eHealth records.

“I’ve got confidence in this space, I think we can totally do it.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will be adapted under a $23.9m national public education campaign.

Media channels specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will be contracted to broadcast the ads, with information to be translated into 15 Indigenous languages for radio.

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“Campaign messaging has been shared to state and territory health departments, including to the NT government, so they can share and adapt messaging for the jurisdictions individual needs,” a federal health spokeswoman said.