Speaking at a press conference this week, an impassioned Guild National President, Professor Trent Twomey says Dr Brendan Murphy, Secretary of the Department of Health, “deserves to take responsibility for the bungled vaccine rollout”.
He says that this failure is threatening the health of communities across the whole country.
With a large proportion of the nation facing lockdown and renewed restriction due to ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks, Professor Twomey says he, together with The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is “exhausted and frustrated” by the fact that many “Australians who want to get the [Covid-19] vaccine and cannot get the vaccine”.
“The Pharmacy Guild and Australia’s members have lost patience and have had enough, and now I’ve lost patience. I’ve had enough,” he continued, adding he is exasperated by this morning’s news from the Commonwealth Government that it’s “considering sending 20 million AstraZeneca vaccines to the Pacific Islands”.
“It is bewildering to see the Government happy to give away doses of the vaccine when it can’t even successfully organise to get the vaccine to its own people across Australia,” Professor Twomey said.
He says that while it’s important “that the Australian Government and the Australian people show leadership in this region, it’s not good enough that over half of the Australian population are now entering a lockdown”.
“Australia, in terms of the number of people that have been fully vaccinated, rates dead-last in the OECD.
“We rank number 37 of all the different countries,” Professor Twomey said.
He adds that he wants “Australians to have the option with informed consent to be vaccinated”.
“I don’t care which vaccine,” Professor Twomey underscored.
“It is up to Australians to choose which vaccine they want, not up to the Commonwealth Government or politicians.
“The Australian Technical Advisory Group in Immunisations (ATAGI), the TGA, has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine for all Australians over the age of 18.
“Sure, there is a preference for certain age groups to have certain types of vaccines.
“But it should be up to individual Australians as they are going into a lockdown to choose which vaccination they put in their bodies.
“There is a 3.1 out of every 100,000 people who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine that may have a side effect.
“That is 0.0031%. And no drug is without its risks.
“And the people of Australia want to have a conversation with their medication experts about what vaccine is most appropriate for them, and what vaccine is most appropriate for their family.”
Community pharmacists key in conversations
Professor Twomey reminds the Commonwealth Government that local, community pharmacists are a key part of these conversations around the Covid-19 vaccines.
“The people of Australia are having conversations with their local pharmacist about all of their medications. No medication is without risk,” he said.
“Pharmacists have been vaccinating in Australia now, since 2014. We administered over three million influenza vaccines last calendar year alone.
“3930 pharmacies have been approved by the Commonwealth Government to administer vaccines.
“And here we are, exporting 20million of them to overseas countries, while half the population is going into lockdown.
“It’s not good enough,” Professor Twomey said.
Pharmacies heed to help with vaccine rollout
Professor Twomey points out that there are “6000 pharmacies in Australia and 4000 of them volunteered”.
“They heeded the call from the Commonwealth Government all the way back in March,” he said, adding that those pharmacies who are set to administer the Covid-19 vaccine are “trained, qualified and they’re trusted”.
“They’ve got the infrastructure, and the Australian population wants to get the vaccine, and they just can’t do it. It’s ridiculous,” Professor Twomey added.
Bungled rollout strategy
“We have completely bungled the messaging,” Professor Twomey said, speaking about the communication around the Covid-19 vaccine.
“We have 10s of millions of vaccines sitting in fridges between state and territory governments, and the Commonwealth Government. And we have 10 of millions of Australians who want to get their vaccine.
“So, the problem with the messaging is, we chose at the outset a complicated approach – a phased approach.
“Look at the rest of those 36 countries that make up the 37 of the OECD, and they had a much simpler message: you’re over 85 it’s your turn, you’re over 75 it’s your turn.
“They did an age-based approach, which is what we should have done, it’s what the Guild said all the way back in January, what we should have done.”
Community pharmacy key to fixing the rollout
Professor Twomey went on to express his frustration with the Commonwealth Government bureaucracy, saying that pharmacies have the state premiers on board, who are “supportive of community pharmacies”.
He calls for the Government to “stop hiding behind National Cabinet and activate community pharmacy”.
“It’s time the Government was held to account,” Professor Twomey said.
“The use of community pharmacies in the vaccination rollout is a simple and easy fix, and it’s one that’s already approved by Government.
“But the roadblock seems to be faceless bureaucrats.”
He said the Guild had estimated that utilising community pharmacies in stages could speed up the vaccination rollout by at least three months, protecting population health, enabling the economy to avoid further lockdowns, and saving taxpayers money.
Opposition to pharmacy
“What’s causing this resistance [to pharmacy] is a fractured approach at a national level,” continued Professor Twomey when asked about what the cause is behind the opposition to pharmacy.
“We did not see this … when we rolled out the general practice network.
“There was no hiding behind the National Cabinet from the Commonwealth Department of Health – [Dr] Brendan Murphy [Secretary of the Department of Health] needs to step up here.
“The amount of times that I personally have extended my hand of cooperation to the Secretary of the Department of Health and it has gone unanswered.
“He deserves to take responsibility for this bungled rollout,” Professor Twomey said, underscoring that this rollout “has been bungled, it has been mishandled”.
Speak with ‘any trained health professional’ about vaccinations
Professor Twomey says that “people should have a chat with any trained health professional” about the vaccinations available to them and their families.
“Go and have a chat with your local GP, go and have a chat with your local pharmacist, go and have a chat with your local community nurse.
“All of these people are qualified. All of these people are trained. All of these people are trusted,” he said.
‘A humanitarian crisis here, at home’
Professor Twomey’s message to key experts and decision-makers in the vaccine rollout and the management of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is “don’t you dare send 10s of millions of vaccinations to overseas countries as part of a humanitarian crisis when we have a humanitarian crisis here at home”.
“Half of Australia is in lockdown. Shame on you, [Dr] Brendan Murphy. Shame on you,” he said.
