To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Australia Fails To Reach 4 Million Covid-19 Vaccinations By Start Of April

Australia Fails To Reach 4 Million Covid-19 Vaccinations By Start Of April

We missed it by 3.4 million doses. So close.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Scott Morrison promised us there would have been 4 million coronavirus vaccines issued by the end of March.

It was an ambitious target and many questioned whether it would be achievable when taking into account supply and access.

Well, it's clear authorities have fallen short of that target. Very short.

Instead of getting 4 million, we have actually done nearly 600,000 vaccinations so far. So, we're only a casual 3.4 million short or 85 per cent of the initial target.

That includes both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines and considering both need two injections to be incredibly infective, it means a very small portion of our population is fully vaccinated.

PA

According to the Guardian, the delay on vaccinations has been blamed on international supply issues, natural disasters like the NSW floods, errors and booking problems.

It wasn't until this month (March) that the government had to pull back from its target of 4 million doses by April and the whole country fully vaccinated by September.

Despite the extremely slow roll out, experts reckon the pace will soon quicken.

Professor Catherine Bennett, the chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, told the Guardian: "That is not what the rest of the rollout is going to look like.

"If phase 1a took longer than expected, and the government itself said the aged care rollout took longer than expected, it doesn't mean we necessarily have to assume the same from here on in.

"Now that we have got that local production building up to hopefully a million a week ... and set up the state vaccination centres, I think we are going to see a more rapid escalation in uptake. So 597,000 now, we might double that in a week. The week after that, it could be even better."

PA

States and territories have been under pressure to start ramping up their efforts and were even told by one minister to 'pull their finger out'.

However, some jurisdictions have hit back saying they haven't received proper federal support for the rollout.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he is as 'angry as I have ever been in this 15 months of war against this virus'.

Speaking to reporters, the politician said: "Let's get this really, really clear: the New South Wales Government was asked to roll out 300,000 vaccinations to the groups in 1A and 1B. Of that we have done 100,000.

"The Federal Government was asked and is responsible for 5.5 million people and they have rolled out 50,000. I think the figures speak for themselves."

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles added: "The states are doing what they can, with what has been distributed to them."

Australia ranks 94th in the world in our vaccine rollout and there are thousands of frontline health workers who are yet to be fully vaccinated.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Australia