Vaccine not a silver bullet: Morrison

Scott Morrison has defended Australia’s vaccine rollout while hinting the population could yet be fully inoculated against COVID-19 by the end of this year.

That comes just days after the federal government signalled it could not vaccinate all Australians against COVID-19 by its original October deadline, due to two reported instances of blood clotting resulting from the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Australia had agreed to purchase about 50 million doses of AstraZeneca‘s vaccine before recommending earlier this month that those aged under 50 should instead receive the Pfizer jab.

CSL is manufacturing most of the AstraZeneca doses in Victoria, and they were to form the lynchpin of Australia’s vaccine rollout.

Speaking this afternoon at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA, Mr Morrison again said a target could not be set for when the population would be fully vaccinated.

He said, however, that 20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine were expected to arrive in Australia by October, which could conceivably allow for the population to be fully vaccinated by 2022.

“Our task now is to work with the states and territories to find the best method for mass vaccination to be achieved in that fourth quarter,” Mr Morrison said.

“If we get that right, it should be possible ... assuming supply chains and vaccine hesitancy not getting beyond us, it should be possible to vaccinate that balance of the population this year.”

Mr Morrison’s comments come as the federal government has come under sustained criticism for its vaccine rollout and reliance on locally manufactured AstraZeneca inoculations.

While the US, UK and Israel have begun manufacturing vaccines and inoculating their populations at scale, Australia has vaccinated just 1.3 million people, with about 71,000 of those people living in WA.

The prime minister defended the federal government’s overall COVID-19 response this past afternoon, citing several statistics showing Australia had recorded fewer deaths than other OECD nations.

He paid particular attention to Australia’s economic recovery, arguing his government’s response meant the country could reopen at a much quicker pace than most other developed nations

"On the economic front, nationally, employment is higher now than when we entered the pandemic and we have a growth rate in the last quarter that was 3.4 per cent," Mr Morrison said.

"A remarkable achievement ... considering a year ago where we were.

"Australia continues to lead the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of the [global] recession that pandemic caused."

He said Australia's performance put it ahead of other countries that are undertaking mass vacination to combat higher rates of infection and death.

"Vaccinations are not a silver bullet," the prime minister said.

"They're enormously helpful and we need to roll them out as quickly and safely as possible.

"What we are working on at the moment is to enable Australians who are vacicinated to be able to travel overseas and return."

Praise heaped on McGowan, WA

Closer to home, Mr Morrison repeatedly praised Premier Mark McGowan for WA’s management of health and economic matters, calling him a key ally in keeping business open in Australia.

Mr Morrison also claimed partial credit for WA’s result, pointing to $267 billion worth of stimulus delivered over the past year as proof.

That included wage subsidy schemes, tax cuts on personal income and programs to stimulate activity in the housing market.

“As strong as that leadership has been here in Western Australia, it was not done in isolation,” he said.

"They did not act on their own, and nor should they have had to.

“We were all part of a national effort.”