‘Complete mess’: Butler slams PM over Canavan, vaccine rollout delays

Australia’s vaccine rollout is “fast becoming a complete mess” and the government remains divided over fundamental information, Labor’s health spokesman says.

The rollout continued to lag well behind initial estimates from the government, which aimed to have 4 million Australians vaccinated by early April.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a joint party room meeting on Tuesday the “most significant issue” facing the government was vaccine supply, which had been restricted by blockages in Europe.

He said the government’s decision to manufacture 50 million AstraZeneca doses onshore was one of its “biggest and wisest”, as it would incubate Australia from overseas supply issues.

But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Karen Price said the COVID-19 vaccination booking system was yet to launch, telling The Guardian “receptionists are already getting overwhelmed with calls”.

RELATED: Kelly pushes to suspend AstraZeneca vaccine rollout

Labor health spokesman Mark Butler accused the government of failing to create adequate infrastructure to facilitate the rollout.

“This vaccine rollout is fast becoming a complete mess,” he said.

“It is way behind schedule, and the systems that we need in place are remarkably still being built.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt told parliamentary question time the government’s plan was saving lives, saying onshore-manufacturing protected Australians.

“We made sure we had sovereign vaccine manufacturing, and that’s what protected Australia,” he said.

“They can pretend (delays) didn’t occur overseas, we’re upfront about that. But we’ve preempted, we’ve protected, and we’ve prepared.”

He said the government had shifted the goalposts on its vaccine targets.

“The prime minister promised that 4 million vaccines would have been delivered by the end of this month, a target that they long ago decided to slip into April, then into the end of April, and have now dropped altogether,” he said.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan called on the government to halt the rollout of the AstraZeneca jab, after several European nations suspended the jab over fears of blood clotting.

That call was joined by MP Craig Kelly, who quit the Liberal Party in February partly in order to promote theories that contradict official government advice.

Nationals leader Michael McCormack conceded he wished Mr Canavan had not expressed that view, but said he had not spoken to his backbencher.

“They don’t represent my views or those of the government … (but) we’re a broad church and I understand he’s got some concerns,” he said.

Mr Morrison urged Australians to look to official advice for their COVID-19 information.

“I think it’s incumbent on all of us here in this place to be supporting that vaccination program,” he told Question Time.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government “clearly, unequivocally” supported the AstraZeneca rollout.

But Mr Butler lashed senior government members for failing to slap down Mr Canavan’s “deeply irresponsible” intervention.

“This morning we’ve again seen divisions within the Coalition about the fundamentals of this vaccine rollout,” he said.

“Senator Canavan has made some deeply irresponsible comments that directly undermine the authority and the integrity of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, one of the best regulators of medicines and other therapeutic classes in the world.”