Australian pharmacists say they will not start administering COVID-19 jabs until June as the country s delayed vaccine rollout suffers yet another blow.
Pharmacists were due to come onboard the rollout in May, when people aged 50 and over become eligible for the vaccine.
However 9News understands they are unlikely to begin administering the vaccine until June.
LIVE UPDATES:
Speaking to Today, Dr Todd Cameron lashed the unrealistic expectations the Federal Government has of GPs.(Today)
Melbourne general practitioner Dr Todd Cameron told Today he was pretty disappointed in the slow start of the rollout. We were promised the world and delivered an atlas, he said.
The Australian and international news stories you need to know today, Tuesday April 6. Mamamia 3 days ago Gemma Bath
Australia-NZ travel bubble start to be revealed at 2pm AEST.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to reveal the start date for quarantine-free travel for Australians to Aotearoa.
Ms Ardern s cabinet will meet to sign off a plan to create the trans-Tasman bubble on Tuesday morning, before a 4pm local time (2pm AEST) announcement.
Australian and New Zealand borders have been shut to almost all non-citizens since March last year, with both countries requiring arrivals to spend a fortnight in quarantine before entering the community.
Australia s troubled Covid-19 vaccine rollout faces further setbacks as chemists are delayed from administering jabs until June amid dose shortages.
The European Union has blocked more than three million jabs from being exported to Australia over the past month, leaving local authorities scrambling to ramp up on-shore production as the nation s vaccination program falls behind schedule.
The government plans to use GP clinics as the hubs of the vaccine rollout once all over-50s are made eligible next month, however some experts say more industrial-scale facilities are needed to get Australia up to the speed of many foreign nations who are vaccinating are much faster rates.
The federal defence minister says there is no need for Australians to panic about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, as Australia is not in the same state of "mad panic" as the US and the UK to get it done.
The federal defence minister says there is no need for panic about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, as Australia is not in the same state of "mad panic" as the US and the UK to get it done.