Morrison responds to Victoria’s vaccine dig

James Merlino said the national vaccine rollout had been “slower than we have hoped” and suggested the commonwealth had failed to address problems in the hotel quarantine system.

Victoria was plunged into a seven-day lockdown on Thursday as the state recorded 11 new infections overnight, taking its total number of active cases to 26.

“The vaccine rollout has been slower than we have hoped,” Mr Merlino told reporters. “It’s not where we hoped it would be, it’s not where it should be.

“If more people were vaccinated, we might be facing a very different set of circumstances than we are today.

“But sadly we are not.”

The acting premier said two crucial steps were needed to squash the threat of the pandemic: the “successful rollout of the commonwealth’s vaccine program and an alternative to hotel quarantine, particularly for those who are very, very high risk”.

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It was revealed nearly 30 aged care homes in Victoria were yet to receive their first doses of any Covid-19 vaccines despite assurances from the Morrison government the most vulnerable would be given priority.

When the Prime Minister addressed reporters on Thursday afternoon, he refused to respond directly to several questions quoting the frustrations from Mr Merlino and Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton.

“I am pleased that, particularly in Victoria, more than half of those aged over 70 have been vaccinated but also, right around the country, as I indicated, we expect about 4 million by the end of the week but it is still a long way to go,” Mr Morrison said.

“No system is foolproof, so when challenges come like this from time to time, you address them, you address them together, calmly, patiently, understanding of the difficulties that this clearly will impose on Victorians over the course of the next seven days, and seek to minimise the disruption and that dislocation as much as possible.”

The Prime Minister announced a further 130,000 vaccine doses would be sent to Victoria in response to the unfolding emergency.

Later in the afternoon, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also criticised the Prime Minister, insisting the latest outbreak was “particularly tough because this could have been avoided”.

“The Morrison government has to accept its responsibilities to lead rather than to always be looking to not take up what is its job to do — effective quarantine, and effective rollout of the vaccine,” he said.

The Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid said the concerning outbreak was a “wake-up call” for those hesitant to receive the jab.

“The events of the last few days have demonstrated that Covid is a real and present threat to all of us, all the time, despite our excellent arrangements,” he told reporters. “Despite our great track record with Covid, this is a threat, particularly to vulnerable Australians.

“It is pleasing that over half of the over 70s in the country have now had their first vaccination, that will improve their safety significantly.

“But for the rest of us, this is a wake-up call, a reminder that Covid is real, it is here now and the best thing you can do as an Australian, not just for your own health but the health of the people around you is to go and get your vaccine as soon as it is available to you.”