Time to redouble vaccine efforts

Key reasons to support the federal government’s measured timetable for the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine included the luxury of learning from the mistakes of others, allowing time to get proper systems in place and to get the messaging right to encourage participation. This makes Health Minister Greg Hunt’s admission that two elderly nursing home residents in Brisbane were given four times the recommended dose of vaccine by a doctor who had not completed the mandatory training all the more extraordinary and disappointing. For a community exposed to conflicting messages from social media and sensationalist reporting about vaccines, the mess-up so early in the program is unwelcome to say the least. The government needs to be using its resources to demonstrate the vaccine is safe and effective, and that it is in control. Instead, the risk is that the message getting through is one of bureaucratic incompetence and lack of proper oversight. That said, things should not be blown out of proportion.

To Mr Hunt’s credit, he has been open with the facts rather than let the news leak out to become a bigger scandal than it is already. There was a breakdown in process, with Mr Hunt admitting the doctor had not completed the training. But the mistake was picked up quickly and those involved are being monitored closely in case of adverse reactions. These are not expected given results from trials that included bigger doses than those now recommended and similar mistakes overseas.

Nonetheless, with research confirming that scepticism about the vaccine is still a significant factor in the community, the federal government can ill afford more mistakes. Crucial to the rollout will be the preparedness of state governments and provincial media to allow space for the commonwealth to succeed in an area traditionally controlled by the states. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was quick to blame the Morrison government and demand the Prime Minister call a national cabinet meeting.

The federal government is relying on the vaccines to break the cycle of state border closures and lockdowns that have proved popular for premiers but debilitating for the economy. As editor-at-large Paul Kelly wrote on Wednesday, many state-based media outlets have given strong support for state provincialism. The question now, he says, is whether that narrative will change to documenting the dimensions of the vaccine rollout or will it focus on problems and alarms. Events in Brisbane provide an ominous signpost to what the answer may be.