NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says supplies of COVID-19 vaccines are so low, people have been “chasing” jabs like characters in The Hunger Games films.
Key points:
- The Commonwealth says 1,300 GP clinics nationally will administer vaccines by end of this month
- Premier Gladys Berejiklian says many NSW residents want the vaccine but can’t access it
- Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he wants more vaccine doses and more GPs to get jabs into arms
Mr Hazzard made reference to the hit film series — in which contestants must compete in a televised fight to the death — while expressing frustration at the slow vaccine rollout.
“I fear … it is almost a sense now of The Hunger Games, of people chasing vaccine,” he said.
“And until we get enough vaccine and enough GPs actually at the frontline able to provide that vaccine into arms, we will continue to have effectively The Hunger Games going on here in NSW.”
RN
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Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd yesterday revealed about 500 general practitioners were delivering the Pfizer vaccine across Australia, and another 800 were due to come online this month, to administer both Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there were “many people who would like to get the vaccine that currently don’t have access to it”.
“The NSW government has expressed its frustration along the process, but what we have to do is work with what we have and make sure that we’re doing our bit, as the Commonwealth is in relation to their responsibility in getting the vaccine out,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said until the new vaccines arrived, NSW was increasing its capacity by opening up new mass vaccination hubs in south-west Sydney and Wollongong, as well as a new Sydney CBD clinic.
From July 19, 22 NSW pharmacies will administer vaccines and Ms Berejiklian said the government was having “really solid conversations with pharmacy” to increase those numbers.
“As we know the work has to happen now so that when the doses arrive there are enough … places for people to go to get the vaccine.”
Mr Hazzard said said it was “easy to be critical in hindsight” about initial vaccine supplies, but the federal government “did their best” given the issues that emerged with AstraZeneca.
He said he’d like to see more GPs across the state be able to vaccinate.
“I think the focus should be at the moment, and the federal government appears to be doing this, to try to roll out as much vaccine as they have available.
“I think at some point we will have to go into a more normalised process of vaccine rollout.”
There have been more than 2.4 million vaccines doses administered in NSW including almost 1.5 million by the GP network.
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