Greg Hunt shuns NSW request for Australian Defence Force vaccination hubs
Health Minister has ignored requests from the NSW government for defence personnel to establish special vaccination centres in Sydney’s west and southwest.
Greg Hunt has ignored requests from the NSW government for defence personnel to establish special vaccination centres in Sydney’s west and southwest.
The Australian has confirmed the federal Health Minister’s NSW counterpart, Brad Hazzard, wrote to Mr Hunt in early August requesting the Australian Defence Force open several vaccination centres in Sydney and in the state’s west.
Mr Hunt replied on August 13, outlining the supply of additional vaccine doses, but did not respond to the request for special vaccine hubs in Greater Sydney.
“In affected Local Government Areas, 1242 general practices, 301 community pharmacies, 17 vaccination clinics and 7 Aboriginla community controlled health organisations are already operating and supporting vaccination of communities in this region,” he wrote.
Health authorities in NSW are scrambling to vaccinate those living in high-risk suburbs in Sydney’s west and southwest, with the state recording a daily record of 830 infections on Sunday.
But commonwealth officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the NSW government of leaking the letter and “playing politics”, noting ADF-run vaccination hubs had been established in the state’s west, where access points were limited.
The officials also said NSW health authorities had dismissed the need for similar hubs in Greater Sydney – as requested in Mr Hazzard’s letter – because there was “ample access to vaccinations at GP clinics and pharmacies littered across the city”.
The Australian understands that NSW Health and NSW Police made it clear to federal officials they thought it was unnecessary to divert ADF from operations to run dedicated vaccination clinics when there are already over 2000 GPs, pharmacies and commonwealth centres doing this.
The revelation that pleas for assistance on the vaccination program in Sydney’s west and southwest have been ignored by the commonwealth will damage the increasingly frosty relations between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Senior figures in the Berejiklian government are convinced the federal government is seeking to distance itself from the failure to lockdown Sydney sooner.
Senior figures in the Morrison government believe their state colleagues in NSW are trying to avoid responsibility by claiming failures with the vaccine rollout are to blame for the crisis enveloping the state.
The commonwealth responded to the request for ADF help in and around Dubbo within 24 hours, commissioning 50 defence personnel for community support and compliance and five ADF Medical Teams of up to 14 members each across western NSW.
In addition, Ausmat and the Royal Flying Doctor Service are operating as part of the western NSW joint response.
While the request for the hubs in Sydney has been ignored, 300 defence personnel are already on the ground in the city’s west as part of a joint operation with NSW Police.
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