WA expands vaccine rollout, McGowan defends border position

The state government has expanded its COVID-19 vaccination eligibility criteria to those aged 16 and over on the first day of its two-week vaccine blitz, as Premier Mark McGowan defends his plan to continue utilising the state's hard border "weapon".

More than 160,000 doses are expected to be administered over the next fortnight as part of the blitz, with a new community clinic at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre opening today and a second opening in Midland on September 6.

During a press conference this morning, Premier Mark McGowan urged the two million Western Australians in the latest cohort to take advantage of the expanded criteria and get vaccinated.

“As we’ve seen in Sydney, those in this age group are potentially the biggest spreaders of the virus,” he said.

“We’d like to see those in this age category take up the opportunity to get vaccinated.”

Western Australia is set to receive an extra shipment of 70,000 vaccines as part of the Commonwealth receiving an extra one million doses.

With New South Wales having recorded another 480 community cases and eight deaths in the past 24 hours, Mr McGowan said the state government had supported the Commonwealth providing half of that shipment to those in Sydney.

He indicated that if New South Wales were to reach more than 500 cases a day, under the new rules for the extreme risk jurisdictions, the state government would significantly cut the number of people able to reenter WA.

He urged Western Australians still in New South Wales to get vaccinated and tested, warning the window to return "may well close shortly”.

The vaccination blitz comes as the latest statistics show WA trailing well behind the rest of the country.

On Friday, just 21.3 per cent of Western Australians over the age of 16 had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 42 per cent had their first dose.

Mr McGowan said today he hoped to see the state reach an 80 per cent vaccination rate by the end of the year.

Read the roadmap: McGowan

Meanwhile, Mr McGowan has defended his comments around utilising the hard border and lockdowns even after an 80 per cent vaccination rate was reached, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying it amounted to “undermining” and breaking his commitment to the nationally agreed upon COVID roadmap.

He said his position reflected that outlined in the national COVID roadmap agreed upon by the national cabinet, which indicated that lockdowns could still be enforced even with a 70 to 80 per cent vaccination rate.

But Mr McGowan refused to be drawn on what percentage of the population would need to be vaccinated before the state could rule out potential lockdowns, saying that would need to be decided by the national cabinet.

“I’ve got the roadmap here and it says lockdowns at 80 per cent,” he said.

“I think people need to read it.

“I answered all of these questions on July 30 and I said lockdowns remained a tool that states could use, even at 80 per cent or 70 per cent vaccination, because that’s what is in the plan by the national cabinet.

“I stand by that - that we will keep that [interstate border] as one of our weapons.

“I’m being criticised over east, I understand it, for saying I prefer not to have COVID.

“What’s the alternative - New South Wales? Is that what they want?

"New South Wales is a basket case.

“Their management of this outbreak has meant that they now have mass outbreaks across the state, they’re costing Australian taxpayers billions of dollars, and they’ve got people dying.

“The people of Western Australia have funded the bail out for New South Wales.

“If they want to criticise us for doing the right thing, let them.”