Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was “not possible” to set targets for the vaccine rollout given the “uncertainties involved”. (AAP: David Caird)
Scott Morrison has scrapped plans to announce a new deadline to vaccinate all Australians by the end of the year against COVID-19 in an admission over the “uncertainties” surrounding the program.
Despite promising greater transparency on the rollout by providing daily updates on the number of people vaccinated, the Prime Minister confirmed on Sunday they will no longer commit to any targets on when the program will be fully completed or when most Australians will have their first jab.
The Morrison Government had previously raised hopes that the majority of Australians would have their first COVID jab by the end of October with the majority of adults fully vaccinated in the two-jab vaccination program by the end of 2021.
“Each day we are now updating information on the roll out of the vaccine,” the Prime Minister said in a Facebook post outlining the latest figures.
“You can see that 1.16 million doses have now been administered, with over 465,000 given by our GPs. Another 1,000 GPs are expected to join the rollout this week, taking the total number to over 4,000.”
But while the original program included a target for Phase A and Phase B for vulnerable people and frontline workers, the Prime Minister said these would no longer be updated or provided.
The Prime Minister will also not commit to a timetable on when most Australians are vaccinated, a necessary step to reopen international borders and relax hotel quarantine requirements.
“The Government has also not set, nor has any plans to set any new targets for completing first doses,” he said.
