Pharmacists slam Australia’s ‘over-engineered’ vaccine rollout
Pharmacists are frustrated they’re not being used to speed-up Australia’s vaccine rollout.
4,000 sites across the country have been assessed as “suitable” to administer the COVID-19 injection, but so far only 49 pharmacies are being used in regional Queensland.
It’s expected to expand to 200 sites across the country next month, with 67 chemists in regional WA given the green light to start dishing out jabs from July 12.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey told 6PR’s Gary Adshead it’s far too slow.
“At the moment, only 67 have received an invitation to become access points, 522 of them have been approved,” he said.
“There is a long way to go .
“What we want to do is help Western Australians, help Australians get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Get it out of fridges over in the east coast, get it into pharmacies in WA and let’s get this vaccination strategy turbocharged.
He said Australia’s vaccine rollout has been “over-engineered” by bureaucrats and politicians.
“We have made something that is simple, complicated, and we didn’t need to do it.”
Press PLAY to hear more about pharmacies entering the COVID-19 vaccine frontline