“I really,I really find this very offensive,” Mr Hazzard said.
“If you’re going to win a war you can’t have the tanks and the artillery all dropped at the airport and told about it,and then go public about it. A few days later,you’ve got to know[what your] supply lines are and you’ve got to be able to work to those.”
Mr Hazzard said he contacted Mr Hunt on Wednesday to voice his anger over the matter,with his federal counterpart providing a justification for the story that he did not accept.
“[Mr Hunt] said it had little to do with us,actually and that it had to do with another part of the country,” Mr Hazzard said.
On Tuesday,the Queensland government sparked a row with the federal government when it revealed it had beenstockpiling vaccine doses since the start of the rollout because it did not trust the consistency of supply from the Commonwealth.
A senior NSW government official said the federal government’s attempt to blame the states was a clear case of “look over here” to distract the public from recent scrutiny.
Ms Berejiklian was equally excoriating.
“The facts that were presented are not true,” the Premier said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at Wednesday’s COVID-19 update in Sydney.Credit:Kate Geraghty
“What is also extremely unfair,is that when we are given 24 or 48 hours notice about how many new doses we’re getting,and as you can appreciate,disseminating that within 24 hours or 48 hours is a difficult task,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Ms Berejiklian said 150,000 people in NSW have received the vaccine,with 100,000 of those were provided by the state government and 50,000 from the Commonwealth.
Ms Berejiklian and Mr Hazzard have repeatedly urged their federal counterparts for more vaccines and advanced warning to plan its juggernaut rollout operations amid sustained criticism the Commonwealth’s rollout was plagued by delays.
“I think we’ve all heard some complaints in the media from GPs about that[federal government] rollout. And we know that many aged care facilities that we’re expecting to see the vaccine haven’t got it,” Mr Hazzard said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had no interest in getting involved in a “tit for tat on vaccines”.
“It is not a race or a competition,I am interested in Australians being vaccinated safely with appropriate care and support given to all of them,” he said.
A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said states and territories have had the 12-week vaccine plan for several weeks now. State and Territories have disputed the plan included the number of doses to be delivered each week.
“Vaccines have been delivered in accordance with this plan,” Hunt’s spokesman said.
Australian Medical Association President Dr Omar Korshid warned the war of words between the Commonwealth and state governments diminished public confidence in the vaccine rollout.
“There is no excuse for[vaccines to be] sitting in fridges and freezers,” Dr Khorshid said.
“The Commonwealth government needs to be transparent on the number of vaccines that have already been distributed,and what the projected quantities will be going forward,” he said.