States accuse Scott Morrison as 12 million people locked up

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The push, designed to accelerate the slow and difficult vaccine rollout, has divided the medical community and states.

Our recommendation is always really for patients to follow ATAGI advice. Be patient and have the vaccine recommended by ATAGI when available. I certainly still support expert advice at this point, said Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid.

It has been a race. And Scott Morrison got stuck in the barrier, failing to jump.

Anthony Albanese, Labor leader

But the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Karen Price, said the severity of the current outbreak in Australia meant the decision was appropriate.

Dr Price said she would not hesitate to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under the age of 40, but some doctors were concerned about the risk of legal liability.

We must do all we can to manage this epidemic, she said.

This now allows us to have this conversation with people who want to have the AstraZeneca. So far, I think doctors have been reluctant to have this conversation with people under the age of 60.

To the frustration of the federal government, business and industry, the country was plunged even further into chaos and nearly half of its population was confined as prime ministers and prime ministers continued to impose more restrictions and border closures.

A federal source said it was as if Premiers were suffering from FOMO (fear of missing out) and racing to lock down, whether or not it was justified.

Western Australia imposed a four-day lockdown late Monday evening to record no new cases of local transmission on Tuesday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk shut down southeast Queensland, Townsville and Magnetic Island for three days after registering two new cases on Tuesday. The Northern Territory recorded two new cases, bringing its total to nine.

Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and ACT remain virus-free, but SA and ACT have imposed restrictions.

NSW has recorded 19 more cases, 17 of which were linked to known cases.

Berejiklian calls for 80% vaccination

Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian has suggested that the outbreak is in a situation where we still believe we are in control of what is going on, and that the lockdown in Greater Sydney is expected to end within two weeks as planned.

It’s still early days and I don’t want to regret what I’m about to say, but we were potentially anticipating an increase in cases by today. It could very well happen in the next few days but it shows us that health advice has been about the money, she said.

But Ms Berejiklian, who has been frustrated with the pace of the vaccine rollout, said that until 80% of the population is vaccinated, there will be no life with COVID-19.

Until at least 80% of our adult population is vaccinated, we can’t have a conversation about what normal COVID looks like, she said.

This means NSW needs 10 million jabs. So far, only 2 million had been administered.

Appeal to stop arrivals abroad

Ms Palaszczuk and Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said overseas arrivals should be halted until vaccine levels are high and proper quarantine facilities are in place.

We need a massive reduction in arrivals abroad, said Palaszczuk, whose state repatriates 150 people per week.

The reason there were blockages in major cities is that overseas arrivals are bringing the virus here. They go to hotels and all of our staff have to deal with it.

She said people should only be allowed to return home for genuine reasons of hardship.

Andrews said it would be heartbreaking in many ways, but a reduced cap would be needed until vaccinations reach critical mass.

But compare the lockdown of an entire city or a whole state and the pain of that, versus halving or cutting 75% or 80%, however many, how many people come back. by quarantine at the hotel, in my judgment is not comparable, he said.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt called for a certain point of view.

Almost 11 months ago, we were seeing almost 30 times more cases daily than in Australia now, he said.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said Australia must emerge from under its rock.

It is apparently increasingly rare for states to agree on anything and then stick to it. This means that linking the opening of borders and the end of closures to a specific agreed immunization level represents a real challenge for policy makers, he said.

We can’t stay under this rock forever

But we can’t stay under this rock forever and there has to be some kind of border agreement that will bring us closer to life with COVID.

He said workplaces should double as vaccination centers, just as they do for flu shots, to speed up deployment.

The vaccine rollout has certainly moved into a more mature phase and now is the time to allow and trust experienced nurses to administer the vaccine without a doctor looking over their shoulder, Mr Willox said.

For this pivot to occur, businesses need appropriate and clearly defined compensation to protect against the risk of an employee experiencing serious adverse effects.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese has stepped up his attacks on the Morrison government, claiming he was responsible for the chaos over vaccine and quarantine failures.

What we do know is that these blockages will cost the economy billions of dollars. It means jobs, and it means economic activity, he said.

And for many casual workers, they are made redundant and lose their income. It has been a race. And Scott Morrison got stuck in the barrier, failing to jump, unlike other countries who have jumped further.

When asked to name everything he thought the government had done right since the start of the pandemic, he was unable to.

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