Australia has only administered around 77% of the Covid-19 vaccines that it has received, according to the latest data from the Department of Health. But the problem is worse in some states than others, a Guardian Australia analysis shows.
The Queensland government has said it will delay opening mass vaccination hubs until the last quarter of the year, as it will no longer administer AstraZeneca vaccines. Vaccine data shows the state was already starting to fall behind other large states New South Wales and Victoria.
The Queensland government has had the slowest vaccine rollout to date, on a per 100 population basis. It is also second last to the Northern Territory in the percentage of available vaccines actually administered.
Smaller states have managed to vaccinate a greater percentage of their citizens.
The divergence between the states and federal government-run programs started shortly after Phase 1b of the vaccine rollout began. This saw 4,600 GP clinics added to existing vaccination centres and the vaccine eligibility expanded.
Australia has now administered 12 doses for every 100 citizens. Only some of these will be second doses, so the fully vaccinated population is smaller. The Northern Territory has administered 10 doses per 100 population, followed by Tasmania and the ACT with just over 9 per 100.
This is significantly behind other countries – Israel has eclipsed 120 doses per hundred people. The United Kingdom and United States are both above 80 doses per hundred. And India is at 13.4 doses per hundred even as it deals with a huge second wave of infections.
NSW and Queensland have the slowest rollouts in Australia so far, administering 3.8 and 3.3 doses per 100, according to the latest figures.
Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has said the state is too decentralised to set up an AstraZeneca hub. NSW and Victoria have been operating vaccine hubs for weeks, although Victoria has struggled to get people through the doors according to Guardian Australia reporting.
With only 77% of distributed Covid vaccines actually administered, there are about 1.5m doses – almost one in four – sitting unused in storage fridges and freezers around the country. This raises further questions about whether the federal government is doing enough to tackle vaccine hesitancy and revive the country’s immunisation program.
Aged and disability care centres had almost fully exhausted their allocated doses as of 17 May. The federal government has recently come under fire for the slow rollout in aged and disability care.
Most of the states and territories have used around 70% of the vaccines allocated to them. The Northern Territory was the worst performer at 58% utilised, and Queensland had used just 64% of its available doses as of 17 May.
Notes:
Guardian Australia has excluded vaccinations in GP clinics and aged and disability care from the state totals to keep comparisons over time consistent.
