Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

The article in the Financial Review is a little out of date. Thirty-three per cent of residential aged-care staff, or 85,272, have received a first dose of the vaccination, according to the latest data that I have. Of those 85,272, there are 40,354, or 15.6 per cent, who have received a second dose of the vaccination.

We continue to work cooperatively with the states and territories on the rollout of the vaccine. As I've explained to the chamber before—and as the opposition aren't honest enough to acknowledge—we've had to reset the rollout of the vaccine to aged-care workers on a couple of occasions, based on health advice. Yes, it was our initial intention to vaccinate aged-care workers alongside aged-care residents, but we received health advice that that was not safe to do and so we didn't. We heeded that health advice. We then received advice with respect to the AstraZeneca vaccine, and we made some changes to the way the rollout was occurring in that context. We've opened up a number of channels to provide access for the aged-care workforce to receive a vaccination. They can go to their GP. They can go to a Commonwealth vaccination clinic. They can be supported through their provider. Quite a number of providers are actually providing their own vaccination services in house, as a part of a request for tender that remains open for aged-care providers to operate. They can go to a state vaccination clinic and have priority for that vaccination process. We continue to work cooperatively to ensure aged-care workers have access to vaccines. (Time expired)