SYDNEY, Feb 21, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine
rollout began Sunday, with top officials among a small group receiving
the first jabs a day before the vaccination programme starts in
earnest.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was injected with the Pfizer/BioNTech
vaccine at a medical centre in Sydney’s northwest, in what the
government said was an effort to boost public confidence in the
vaccinations.
Jane Malysiak, an aged care resident and WWII survivor in her 80s,
was the country’s first person to receive the vaccine, followed by
health care workers and other officials.
“She’s taking part in what is a very historic day for our country,”
Morrison said.
“Tomorrow our vaccination programme starts, so as a curtain-raiser
today we’re here making some very important points — that it’s safe,
that it’s important, and we need to start with those who are most
vulnerable and are on the front line.”
It comes a day after anti-vaccination demonstrations in major
cities attracted thousands, with police arresting several protesters
in Melbourne, according to public broadcaster ABC.
Almost 22 percent of Australians said they were unlikely to get the
jab, with vaccine hesitancy rising in recent months, an Australian
National University survey found.
The country’s vaccination programme is starting months after other
nations’, following its provisional approval of the Pfizer product for
use in January.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was also approved in recent days but
is yet to be administered.
Australia has been relatively successful in containing the virus to
date, with almost 29,000 cases and 909 deaths in a population of 25
million.