Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Wednesday that 60% of residential aged care facilities had received a second jab of COVID-19 vaccine as the Government moved to address concerns with the number of disabled people vaccinated.
The announcement came after Aged Service Minister Senator Richard Colbeck said that all aged care residents will have had at least one dose of vaccine within “the next couple of weeks”.
However, fewer than 1000 disability care residents across Australia have received a COVID-19 vaccine, new figures revealed.
Senior counsel assisting the Disability Royal Commission, Kate Eastham, described Federal Government’s vaccine rollout as an “abject failure”.
“These are people who represent some of our most vulnerable members of the population,” said Ms Eastman.
Mr Hunt said in Brisbane on Wednesday a record 95,530 vaccines were administered in the past 24 hours.
“The more people that are vaccinated, if there were a breakout and a border lockdown, then it's very possible that states and territories working through the National Cabinet might waive that lockdown for them, that they may be able to pass across state borders. So that's the point,” he said.
“Right now, we have free movement right around Australia, but we know we're always at risk, as we're seeing from Singapore and Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan that there can be a breakout.”
