Top-up Pfizer would be used to fully vaccinate Victorians, state government told Commonwealth

The Andrews government assured the Commonwealth it would use the one-off additional doses of Pfizer it received to fully vaccinate Victorians, and declared it was incumbent upon the state to ensure that supply was available for second doses.

Acting Premier James Merlino on Wednesday took a swipe at the federal government for the lack of certainty on the supply of the Pfizer vaccine, with Health Minister Martin Foley on Monday declaring the vaccine rollout was being hampered by limited doses arriving from the Commonwealth.

People wait to be vaccinated at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building.Credit: Getty

The Morrison government has disputed there are supply constraints, while the Andrews government has maintained it cannot keep up with the rate of demand at the current level of supply.

“The Commonwealth made it very clear to all states and territories at the last national cabinet that we don’t need to make provisions for second doses because they will retain them. If they can’t do that, then they shouldn’t be publicly scolding states for holding doses back,” Mr Merlino said.

“Victorians have turned out in their thousands to get vaccinated, but we can’t maintain this rate without certainty about supply from the Commonwealth.”

The Age can reveal that Mr Foley wrote to his federal counterpart Greg Hunt thanking him for providing an additional 130,000 doses of AstraZeneca and 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine to meet the increased demand for vaccine uptake in Victoria.

Acting Premier James Merlino told the Commonwealth to stop “publicly scolding” states if they can’t guarantee second dose supplies. Credit: Jason South

He said he was encouraged by the possibility of the Commonwealth providing an additional one-off allocation of about 50,000 Pfizer vaccines, and acknowledged that the supply would revert back to the usual allocations in line with the latest timetable provided by the federal government – about 80,000 doses a week.

Mr Foley also said it was incumbent upon his department to ensure that supply was available for second doses.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the Commonwealth had almost doubled the Pfizer allocation to Victoria, including GPs, from 380,000 in June to 560,000 in July.

“Victoria’s allocation of Pfizer vaccines has actually increased from 71,370 per week in June to 83,070 per week in July,” the spokesman said.

“At the Victorian government’s request, we provided an additional 150,930 doses to the Victorian government to assist them in meeting demand and managing their second doses.

“This has provided an immediate increase to Victoria above their population allocation and we note they provided written confirmation that they understood this is a temporary one-off allocation, not a continous increase.”

A Victorian government spokesman said “acknowleding your supply is about to be cut is not the same as accepting it”.

“It is simply a fact, that with a 20,000 cut to our supply, it will mean less Victorians getting vaccinated – and it is entirely appropriate to call that out,” the spokesman said.

“Every step of this vaccine rollout, we have advocated to have the supply, to meet the demand we have – just this week – we receive a further 50,000 doses following advocacy by Minister Foley.

“If the Commonwealth now want to turn around, cut Victoria’s supply, and think we will accept it, they are wrong. Acknowledging your supply is about to be cut, is not the same as accepting it.”

In late May the Commonwealth temporarily raised the number of Pfizer jabs sent to Victoria from 71,000 a week to 105,000 for three weeks on the condition the state government would administer all the doses and ensure Victorians who were due for their second dose would receive their jab.

Victoria has had the lowest rate of people receiving their second dose, and is one of the only states that has not allowed people to book in their second dose while making a booking for their first dose.

The Victorian government this week halted all walk-ins for Pfizer at its mass vaccination hubs and limited the number of first dose bookings, citing constraints on supply.

The Pfizer supply is set to be 83,000 a week from July – a cut from the 105,000 Victoria will be receiving for three weeks as part of the temporary uplift in supply, but an increase from its baseline.

State officials have argued it would be impossible to provide second doses of the Pfizer vaccine under the allocation timetable if it continued to inoculate about 100,000 people a week, given supply is set to drop by 20,000 within three weeks.

Until June 7, the Commonwealth allocated about 71,000 doses of Pfizer a week to Victoria. This increased to 105,300 doses for the week of June 14. The federal government has advised Victoria it will receive 104,130 doses next week, and 104,130 doses the week after.

On the week of July 5, Victoria’s supply will drop to 83,070 doses and remain at that level. NSW has been advised it will receive 101,790 doses a week from July 5.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has consistently demanded that states and territories use all the jabs they have been allocated, reassuring them that the Commonwealth was storing enough second doses.

Following a national cabinet meeting on June 4, Mr Morrison issued a statement that said: “The Commonwealth reconfirmed that states and territories do not need to provision for second doses as the Commonwealth retains doses for second uses.”

The second dose of Pfizer must be given between three and six weeks after the first dose has been administered.

The Victorian government says the state is not receiving the supply of Pfizer it needs to continue vaccinating people at its current rate.

Stephen Duckett, the Grattan Institute’s health program director and a former secretary of the federal Health Department, said the Commonwealth should entrust state and territory governments with managing their own supply, instead of holding back second doses.

“There’s been a dramatic ramp up in Victoria of vaccinations – so the more they do now, the more they’ll need in three or six weeks, and they may be sceptical whether they will be available,” Professor Duckett said.

“The state knows Pfizer supply is limited – they’re just sceptical about whether the Commonwealth will be able to deliver on their promise. Given the track record of the experiences the states have had, that is understandable. They’re never sure about whether they’re going to get what they’ve been promised.

“The logical thing to do is for the Commonwealth to say to the states ‘you manage the distribution in the mass distribution centres, and we will promise you x thousand doses each week for the next six weeks, and you have to manage how many first and second doses you’re giving’.”

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