The need to sufficiently test the COVID-19 vaccines before putting them in Australian arms was behind the Commonwealth’s sluggish vaccination rollout, says Minister for National Disability Insurance Scheme Linda Reynolds.
The federal government has come under heavy criticism for declaring the vaccine rollout was “not a race” with just 13 per cent of Australians fully protected from the coronavirus.
“I have been involved in the vaccine rollout from the very beginning, and can I tell you, there was no handbook, every nation has done their rollout differently,” she told Sky News.
“Vaccines were developed very quickly, they were tested very quickly, we made decisions very early on to wait until the vaccines had been sufficiently tested before we put them in Australian arms.”
Senator Reynolds said the medical advice on AstraZeneca was unexpected but declared the rollout was “back on track”.
“We didn’t expect the AstraZeneca decision from ATAGI that we did get,” she said.
“I think the prime minister has been, and continues to be, an outstanding leader in these issues so we face and tackle these issues as they arrive and we make decisions.
“We’ve dealt with things as they’ve come along and things are now very much on track and speeding up.”
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