Victoria calls for vaccine rollout to be treated as a ‘race’

An emergency National Cabinet meeting will be held today, and the only item on the agenda is the vaccine rollout.

The federal government has shifted the vaccine rollout, based on fresh medical advice, with AstraZeneca now only recommended for people aged 60 and over.

Under 60s will have access to the alternative Pfizer formula.

The Prime Minister will hold a virtual meeting today to discuss the changes.

The concern is Pfizer supplies are still too limited to keep up with demand, given the vaccine needs to be imported from Europe and stored in special refrigeration.

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley said Victoria would raise the lack of vaccine supply at Monday’s meeting and push for the Commonwealth to treat the rollout as a “race”.

As expected, the changes to the rollout have seen a drop in the number of doses that have been administered.