NSW double-dose target held up by slow Covid-19 jab rate

The NSW government is anticipating weeks-long delays in its ­efforts to reach 80 per cent double-vaccination coverage due to slowing inoculation rates and vaccine hesitancy among the young.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney on Friday. Picture: Dylan Coker

The NSW government is anticipating weeks-long delays in its ­efforts to reach 80 per cent double-vaccination coverage due to slowing inoculation rates and noted levels of vaccine hesitancy among younger people.

State officials are predicting NSW will reach the 80 per cent coverage weeks later than the ­November 1 date originally forecast, and possible as late as early December. Several reasons have been cited for the lag, including noted levels of vaccine hesitancy among the 16 -39-year age bracket.

The uptake of vaccines by 12-15-year-olds, which begins on Monday, will also have a slowing effect, officials said; they will ­assume vaccine slots normally ­reserved for adults and their numbers will not be counted in line with the broader immunised population aged over 16.

As of Thursday NSW had ­recorded 44.5 per cent of its adult population as having received both vaccinations, with 77.3 per cent receiving their first dose.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian praised these numbers on Friday, while simultaneously announcing that her daily press briefings would cease to occur from next week, a decision that was quickly panned by most observers but also welcomed in some quarters.

Ms Berejiklian cited a need to “lived with Covid” as a reason for ending the briefings, which in ­recent times have included ­appearances by intensive care nurses, senior health officials, and NSW chief psychiatrist Murray Wright.

She said Sunday would be the last day of official Covid briefings, but NSW Health would provide a daily health update, and the Premier, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and other relevant minister would be present “on a needs basis”.

“NSW prides itself on having the most transparent information available and we can judge very, very accurately when we need to talk directly down the camera to the community,” Ms Berejiklian said.

NSW is expected to reach a peak in daily Covid infection numbers from next week and ­experience a surge in hospitalisations from October, according to ICU modelling released by the NSW government days ago.

The decision to end daily briefings comes at a ­tumultuous time for the state and for Ms Berejiklian.

The Australian revealed on Wednesday that the Independent Commission Against Corruption would restart private examinations into Ms Berejiklian’s former boyfriend, Daryl Maguire, in relation to a $5.5m grant he procured as the MP for Wagga Wagga in 2017.

Documents released to NSW parliament indicate that Ms Berejiklian had some intervention in the grant application process, and the Premier deflected questions earlier this week asking whether she was the subject of an ICAC ­inquiry, contradicting earlier statements that she had never been an investigative target.

NSW Labor seized on the Premier’s decision to end her daily briefings by describing them as a pivotal form of communication with the community during the pandemic crisis.

The decision also follows an order given by the Premier to senior ministers telling them to boycott a sitting of the NSW Legislative Council, which was scheduled to occur this week.

Opposition Leader Chris Minns said that without a sitting parliament, the daily briefings ­remained one of the few forums available to hold the government to account.