Australian PM blames EU for slow vaccine rollout

By
AFP
|
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: File

  • Scott Morrison says "strict export controls" introduced by EU meant Australia received just 700,000 of 3.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
  • Australia has reportedly received a million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which it is administering to frontline workers.
  • Morrison says he had been reassured by statements from EU officials overnight that AstraZeneca export requests were being processed.


SYDNEY: Australia's prime minister on Wednesday laid the blame on European Union's restricted vaccine supply for his country's abrupt halting of coronavirus inoculation efforts, as he faced public pressure over sluggish rollout.

Scott Morrison said vaccine shortages and "strict export controls" introduced by the European Commission meant Australia received just 700,000 of a contracted 3.8 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

His government, which received global praise for successfully containing Australia's coronavirus outbreak, has fallen far behind its schedule for vaccinating people.

It had initially pledged to administer four million doses by the end of March, but had instead managed about 850,000 shots by Wednesday — drawing increasing criticism that Morrison tried to address at a hastily organised press conference.

Read more: Australia expects to receive AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine soon

"I'm simply explaining to the Australian public that supply issues is what's constraining and has constrained, particularly over the recent months, the overall rollout of the vaccine," he said.

"3.1 million vaccines didn't arrive in Australia — that's just a simple fact," he said.

"It's not a dispute. It's not a conflict. It's not an argument. It's not a clash. It's just a simple fact."

Australia has reportedly received a million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which it is administering to frontline workers.

But authorities had been counting on imported and locally made AstraZeneca shots to cover most of the population.

Trouble surfaced last month when Italy blocked the export of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses as it struggled to cope with a severe coronavirus crisis at home.

Read more: Australian scientists have 'game changer' in fight against coronavirus

Morrison's government said at the time the Italy move would not affect its overall vaccine rollout plan.

'Our ticket back to normal'

But since then, a wider debate across Europe on whether to export vaccines when EU countries are struggling to contain the virus has further held up supplies.

Morrison said Wednesday he had been reassured by statements from EU officials overnight that AstraZeneca export requests were being processed.

"So, if it is, indeed, the position of the European Union that they are happy for these export licences to be granted... then we would encourage them to do that," he said.

Read more: Scott Morrison is new Australian PM after bitter coup

Morrison said he was also still awaiting an EU response to an urgent request for one million of Australia's AstraZeneca doses to be diverted to neighbouring Papua New Guinea, which is facing a worrying COVID-19 surge.

Early in the pandemic, Morrison had boasted that Australia would be "at the front of the queue" for vaccines after a slew of deals with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax.

But public frustration over the actual rollout has been building and prompted angry exchanges last week between the Morrison government and state officials tasked with administering much of the programme.

"Australia is severely behind schedule with the vaccine rollout," complained opposition leader Anthony Albanese.

"Scott Morrison needs to stop pretending like there's no rush. Vaccinations are our ticket back to normal — the government needs to get a move on."