Annastacia Palaszczuk wasted no time taking aim at Scott Morrison during her Wednesday morning coronavirus press conference, slamming the prime minister over the slow vaccination roll out and his lack of direction on hotel quarantine.
After confirming Queensland had recorded three new cases of the highly-contagious Delta variant, she turned her attention to Mr Morrison.
Ms Palaszczuk highlighted the changing recommendations around the AstraZeneca jab, the lack of regional quarantine centres and told Queenslanders to ignore the federal government advice and instead listen to her state’s chief health officer.
She even resorted to drawing on reports from the BBC in the UK and quoted health advice from the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to contradict the prime minister.
Ms Palaszczuk’s comments quickly sent shockwaves around the country with many questioning the accuracy of her claims amid fears they could jeopardise already low vaccination rates.
Annastacia Palaszczuk wasted no time taking shots at Scott Morrison in her Wednesday morning coronavirus press conference after the state’s latest outbreak
Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine program has been heavily criticised by citizens and ministers alike after a report found the nation has recorded the slowest rollout of 38 OECD nations
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was blamed for failing to introduce quarantine centres and for the bungled vaccination roll-out
Vaccinations
Ms Palaszczuk rejected the Morrison Government’s decision to make the AstraZeneca vaccine available to under-40s despite it previously being designated for people 60 and over.
The Prime Minister unveiled after an emergency national cabinet meeting on Monday night an indemnity scheme for GPs to administer the vaccine to younger Aussies.
‘If you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, we would encourage you to… go have a discussion with your GP,’ he said Tuesday.
‘AstraZeneca is there for people to get vaccinated. There are many points of presence, over 5000 GPs alone where you can get that done.
‘If people are concerned, as I’m sure they are, as I am, that I’d be encouraging them to go out and get that vaccination.’
Ms Palaszczuk on Wednesday rejected that premise, saying there had been nothing agreed with the states and urged Queenslanders to follow the earlier advice and only seek the Pfizer vaccine if they are under 60.
‘We want Queenslanders to get vaccinated. But there is some clear guidelines that have been put in place by the chief health officer, ATAGI, and the AMA,’ she said.
‘There has been no national cabinet decision about providing AstraZeneca to the under 40s. Let me say that again – there’s been no national cabinet decision about providing AstraZeneca to the under 40s.’
The Queensland Premier confirmed the state recorded three new community transfers of the Delta variant on Wednesday as the Delta variant sweeps through the country
Two women walking in Brisbane during Brisbane’s Covid-19 lockdown on Wednesday which is set to end at 6pm Friday
Ms Palaszczuk was criticised on Tuesday for calling for a reduction in the number of Australians returning home from overseas
AstraZeneca and Blood Clots
The recommendation from the federal government remains for people under 60 to get the Pfizer jab, but Monday’s announcement left the decision in the hands of citizens to decide if they want the AstraZeneca.
Palaszczuk instead told Queenslanders to ignore that advice and reiterated the link between the AstraZeneca jab and blood clots despite statistics showing only ….
‘In Queensland, we always follow the advice of the chief health officer. So, I urge Queenslanders to listen to Dr Young, and follow the advice of our chief health officer,’ she said.
The Queensland Premier also referenced a BBC article that suggested alternative vaccines would be offered to people under 40 due to links between the jab and blood clots.
‘I also draw people’s attention to reports by the BBC in the UK, which says under-40s to be offered alternatives to AstraZeneca vaccine,’ she read from a piece of paper.
‘It says here most adults under the age of 40 will be given an alternative to the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine due to a link with blood clots.’
This article states immediately following the excerpt she read that ‘it’s not clear if the vaccine is the cause’ of the blood clots.
The BBC story says blood clots ‘do appear to happen slightly more often in younger adults’ but that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh risks for everyone else, according to advice from the UK regulator.
According to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation there is a 3.1 in 100,000 chance of people under 50 getting blood clots from the first AstraZeneca dose.
The mortality rate is about 4 per cent, meaning there is a one in two million chance of dying as a result.
There have been 64 cases of blood clots in Australia.
The ill-fated journey of the 19-year-old woman who sparked Queensland’s three-day lockdown
A nurse conducts a Covid test at the Gold Coast on Wednesday during the area’s first day of lockdown
A man and his son play on Main Beach at the Gold Coast on Wednesday during south-east Queensland’s lockdown
Less than six per cent of Australians are fully vaccinated. Pictured is Australian swimmer Cate Campbell getting the jab in May ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo
Non-Australians Entering The Country
Deputy Premier Steven Miles also launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Morrison, over international border, claiming 20,000 non-Australians arrived in the country last month.
He quoted Australian Bureau of Statistics which showed 71,060 non-Australians entered last month.
‘The federal government’s own data says thousands of people are allowed to travel here who aren’t stranded Aussies,’ he said Wednesday.
‘We know that more than half are on short-term temporary visas.’
‘600 from the UK, 500 Chinese nationals, 300 Indonesians, 250 from the United States, 200 people from the Philippines, 150 from South Africa.’
The ABS data says Australia on the whole had 2,400 UK citizens enter, 1,900 Chinese, 1,400 Indians and 1,100 Americans.
Miles says 3,330 people arrived on temporary visitor visas, with 4360 entering on other temporary visas.
ABS data says 3,300 foreigners arrived on temporary visitor visas and 4,600 on temporary other visas.
‘We have no idea how many are vaccinated, we do know that many will have covid-19,’ Miles said of the statistics.
He also accused the government of censoring the information and reiterated that ‘the borders are not closed.
‘They have directed the ABS to stop reporting this data. From next month onwards we won’t know how many are in breach of our closed borders,’ he said.
‘The borders are open for the Prime Minister’s corporate mates but not citizens.’
Children ride bikes along Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast on Wednesday during day one of south-east Queensland’s three-day lockdown
A vaccination clinic at Slacks Creek, Brisbane on June 29, as south-east Queensland entered a three-day lockdown
Overseas Arrivals
Ms Palaszczuk was criticised on Tuesday for saying the numbers of Australians returning home from overseas should see a ‘massive reduction’ to deal with the ongoing threat of the Delta variant.
The Queensland Premier on Wednesday said that while she maintains Queensland needs to ‘reduce our caps of people coming in’, she said vulnerable Australians should get an exemption.
‘I absolutely believe that vulnerable Australians – it should be going through the federal government, and very a purpose dedicated facility called Howard Springs to deal with our vulnerable Australians,’ she clarified.
‘I maintain we need to reduce our caps of people coming in. It’s people coming in from overseas or leaving Australia and coming back for a whole range of purposes – it’s overseas arrivals bringing this Delta virus into our state.’
Ms Palaszczuk said Tuesday that ‘hotel quarantine is just not the answer’ and reiterated her point on Wednesday of stopping Aussies from coming home.
‘The reason why we’re having lockdowns in major cities is because the overseas arrivals are bringing the virus here,’ she said.
‘The risk is real and we need to contain the virus. We need to protect Australia. We need to protect Queensland.’
Her deputy, Stephen Miles, said overseas arrivals were an ‘unacceptable risk’ and the Queensland Government would move to ‘dramatically cut’ them.
‘Our international borders are supposed to be closed. But every week, thousands of people are allowed to travel,’ he said.
This is despite NSW taking 42,330 returning travellers in May compared to Queensland’s 35,080.
Australia’s new Covid outbreak has left half the population in lockdown (above)