Scott Morrison needs a jab on vaccine rollout

PM Scott Morrison lands in the UK on his way to the recent G7 conference (main), and getting his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine (inset). Pictures: PMO/Getty

Anthony Albanese’s pithy one-liner about the change of Nationals leadership is a clear indication of where Scott Morrison’s full attention must be. “Instead of rolling out the vaccine, they’re rolling each other,” the Opposition Leader said. “Whatever their priorities are, they’re not focused on you.” Apart from confirming there is no shame in politics – given the Labor Party’s own familiarity with leadership turmoil – difficulties with the vaccine rollout and an unhealthy reluctance to restore international movements are issues on which the Morrison government deserves censure.

Losing credibility

The federal government is losing credibility with its management of the vaccine rollout and its repeated claims that everything is on track. It now is facing the same criticism from state leaders across the political spectrum: that the delivery of supplies is too slow and not predictable enough. As we report on Tuesday, there is growing concern among the premiers that dwindling Pfizer stocks could delay the already sluggish rollout further. The Victorian government says it can double the amount of doses it administers in a week. NSW says it, too, can deliver more vaccines. On Monday, Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath signalled her state would have to stop offering the Covid-19 vaccine to new people by the end of next month unless supply ramps up dramatically.

The federal government’s new head of the rollout, Australian Defence Force Lieutenant General John “JJ” Frewen, has conceded: “We are still in a resource-constrained environment we need to carefully manage.”

General Frewen said on current forecasts, the government was looking forward to ramping up availability of the Pfizer vaccine through August into September and into October. He expected better supply flows from then, when authorities would “be able to allocate that more freely”. “But for now we have to manage the resources that we’ve got against the highest priorities we’ve got,” he said. General Frewen’s comments are a welcome break from the obfuscation that to date has characterised the federal government’s message on vaccine availability.

Woefully off-message

Outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney have highlighted the reality of life in the pandemic. In response, the federal government has been woefully off-message. Rather than pretending the vaccine rollout is on track and that people are generally happy with the restrictions they are forced to endure, the key message should be about how to live with uncertainty and to work to change community perceptions of risk. The government also should say what it is doing to secure greater supplies of vaccines of all types. The risk of getting Covid-19 in Australia is still extremely small. But this does not mean we should pursue an unachievable policy of elimination. Neither should it allow the very small risk of having a bad reaction to a vaccine stop people from getting the jab.

The Prime Minister’s relaxed attitude towards maintaining international border restrictions until late next year is a concern. Repeating the message that most people in the community support closed borders is not good enough. The job of government is to provide a safe environment in which citizens continue to enjoy maximum freedoms. Given the choice, there is a strong chance citizens will support a regime that includes international travel as well. As things stand, for three years Australia will be the only community in the world where citizens are banned from travelling.

‘Crisis of government restrictions’

Support for international travel is about much more than restoring a right for the well-heeled to holiday overseas. It is about people being free to live their lives, return to countries they have left to come to Australia, and to visit family and friends. As we report on Tuesday, the head of the International Air Transport Association has said Australia is suffering a “crisis of government restrictions” and questions why Australians are tolerating extended travel bans. IATA director-general Willie Walsh said enough data and knowledge had been gathered to avoid harsh measures such as lockdowns and ­border closures.

This newspaper has been broadly supportive of the federal government’s handling of the pandemic. And we are not now advocating an open slather approach to international borders. But the Prime Minister must be careful. What Mr Morrison is saying about the international borders is analogous to what Dan Andrews has been criticised for doing in Victoria. Using the example of how bad the problems are overseas is a cop-out. Saying Britain is still not safe despite vaccination rates of 70 per cent is exactly the opposite message to the one he should be sending. What is needed is greater confidence in the future and more competence in the vaccine rollout.