An audit of Australia’s coronavirus vaccination rollout has criticised the slow speed at which early doses were administered,blaming poor planning for low levels of community protection when the virus locked down most of the country last year.
In a report released on Wednesday,the Australian National Audit Office planning and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was “partly effective”,noting it became increasingly successful over time.
![Then-prime minister Scott Morrison receives the first COVID-19 vaccines in Australia with aged care resident Jane Malysiak.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/224794917d474023c6a31953225e23478a930d51)
Then-prime minister Scott Morrison receives the first COVID-19 vaccines in Australia with aged care resident Jane Malysiak.Edwina Pickles
Overall,early targets for vaccination were missed,the audit found. Despite then-prime minister Scott Morrison’s promise to have completed the vaccine rollout by October 2021,only 55 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over had received two doses of a vaccine by then,and NSW and Victoria were in the process of exiting four months of continuous lockdown restrictions.
By the end of that month,77 per cent of eligible people were double-dosed. Today,the figure is 96 per cent of people aged 16 and over,with 68 per cent having received at least three doses.
The audit found timelines for vaccinating aged care and disability services residents,as well as the Indigenous population,were not met despite these groups being identified for early doses.
It said the department “underestimated the magnitude and complexity” ofthrough third-party providers,such as Aspen Medical,and “did not engage sufficient providers early in the rollout”.
Aged care vaccinations were scheduled to be completed by the end of April 2021 but,in reality,most facilities.
The audit also found the department’s. At present,about 82 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have received two doses,after the target was reached in late March.
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