Opinion: If 80 per cent of the Australian population can get fully vaccinated, we can gradually return to what we once considered normal life
, shows that fully vaccinating 80 per cent of all Australians, and 95 per cent of over-70s, will give us the best chance of gradually returning to normal life – with open borders and no lockdowns. Aiming for anything less would risk a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases that overwhelms our hospitals, sending us back into long lockdowns.
So far getting Australians vaccinated has been seen as the Morrison government’s job. It has comprehensively failed at the first hurdle: securing enough vaccines. From October, supply should no longer be the issue: Australia will soon have enough doses to vaccinate 80 per cent of all Australians. The challenge will instead be getting those shots into arms as quickly as possible.
The federal government should let them help. Under its current plan, the federal government will allocate between just a fifth and one quarter of vaccine doses from August to December to state-run facilities. The bulk of the rollout is to be left to GPs. This balance is wrong. GPs are an important part of the rollout – about half of Australians who had not been vaccinated in June said they would prefer to receive their vaccine from a GP.
The states should expand state vaccination centres to make it as easy as possible for anyone who wants a jab to get one. Clinics should be established at convenient locations: at major sports events, workplaces, universities, public transport stations, housing commission estates, regional town centres, religious centres, and schools.
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