Covid-19 Australia: Moment Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to answer question on AstraZeneca vaccine

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has snapped at a ‘rude’ reporter who challenged her about her stance on Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout. 

Ms Palaszczuk and the state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young came under fire on Wednesday for contradicting Prime Minister Scott Morrison‘s advice by telling Queenslanders under the age of 40 not to get the AstraZeneca jab.

The Queensland premier also claimed she had tried to secure extra Pfizer vaccines only to have her request turned down by the federal government.

On Thursday, she refused to answer Channel Seven reporter Bianca Stone after she referred to Ms Palaszczuk’s comments as a ‘publicity stunt’.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has snapped at a ‘rude’ reporter who challenged her for telling residents in her state under the age of 40 not to get the AstraZeneca jab

Read More:  Body language expert analyses world leaders' behaviour at the G7

‘You had this publicity stunt yesterday where you had your chief health officer get up and say “we’ve tried to get to get more Pfizer vaccines”,’ Ms Stone said.

Ms Palaszczuk interrupted the reporter to say ‘sorry, I don’t know your name’ before adding she hadn’t seen the reporter before at one of her coronavirus press conferences.

‘Bianca Stone,’ the reporter said.

‘Hi Bianca,’ the premier replied.

Ms Stone said she was from Seven breakfast’s show Sunrise, the show Ms Palaszczuk appeared on that morning.

‘Well, I’m not going to answer people being rude,’ Ms Palaszczuk responded. ‘You are being very rude. Anyone else with a question?’

Ms Stone had on Wednesday tweeted about the day’s press conference in which Ms Palaszczuk and Dr Young attacked the federal Government over its AstraZeneca advice.

‘This media conference was disgraceful,’ Ms Stone tweeted.

Channel Seven reporter Bianca Stone (pictured) had referred to Ms Palaszczuk’s comments about the AstraZeneca vaccine as a ‘publicity stunt’, prompting the Queensland premier to shut down her question

‘I’m not going to answer people being rude,’ Ms Palaszczuk responded. ‘You are being very rude. Anyone else with a question?’

‘All attack, no responsibility. The Premier has more media advisors than most newsrooms have journos.’ 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday evening announced anyone over the age of 18 could immediately request the vaccine, which has been linked to incredibly rare incidents of blood clots.   

On Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk was also challenged about a tweet she posted on Wednesday in which she claimed the UK government wouldn’t allow under-40s to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The claim is false. 

‘There is an article that talks about under-40s are to be given an alternative to AstraZeneca,’ she responded to the male reporter who probed her. 

Most adults under the age of 40 will be given an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to a link with rare blood clots, the BBC reported. 

The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised a preference for adults aged 30 to 39 without underlying health conditions to receive an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine where available – but only if doing so does not cause substantial delays in being vaccinated.

It followed a decision on April 7 to offer a preference for adults aged under 30.  

Ms Palaszczuk then questioned the credentials of the two journalists.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk provides a Covid update during a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday

The Tweet from the Premier that a journalist claimed was inaccurate and caused Ms Palaszczuk to abruptly end her press conference on Thursday

A masked woman at Surfer’s Paradise beach on the Gold Coast during the first day of lockdown in south-east Queensland yesterday

‘You weren’t here yesterday either and I actually read from the article,’ she said to a male reporter who asked about the tweet. ‘I am happy to provide you with a copy of the article.’    

Of the two new Queensland cases on Thursday, one is a close contact of the Portuguese restaurant cases identified last week and is in quarantine. 

The other case is a 37-year-old woman who works at the Qatar Airways check-in counter at Brisbane International Airport. She tested positive on Tuesday, June 29.