Share on Twitter The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine to people in disability residential care has been an "abject failure", an inquiry has heard. A senior federal health department official has revealed that the decision to refocus the vaccine rollout to prioritise those in aged care was made in the first week of March. The associate secretary of the federal Department of Health, Caroline Edwards, appeared before the Disability Royal Commission's public hearing on Monday, which was convened to examine the "extremely low rates of vaccination" in the disability sector. Ms Edwards said medical advice about the risk to elderly and the death of 685 Australian aged care residents prompted her to make the decision.