The Vaccine Rollout Was a Race, and Everyone Knew It but Scott Morrison

While countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States were busy signing vaccine supply deals with Pfizer in July 2020, the Morrison Government dropped the ball.

Newly released documents have confirmed that the Federal Government refused to meet with the Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in the middle of last year.

It was in fact Pfizer who first wrote to the Government about vaccine supply. As early as June 2020, Pfizer offered the Government millions of vaccines doses by the end of 2020, and millions more in 2021.

Unforgivably, the Morrison Government rejected a Pfizer offer to meet with the Health Minister, and then rejected an offer to meet with senior members of Pfizer's global leadership.

In what is a now familiar pattern, when faced with crisis, the Federal Government took a 'wait and see' approach. As a result, Australians have been plunged into uncertainty and disruption because of a slow vaccine rollout. A move that has cost Australia billions of dollars and thousands, if not millions, of livelihoods.

The message to Australians in lockdown is if we get vaccinated, we can open up and begin a return to normalcy.

It is the appalling leadership and failure by the Morrison Government that has led to the nation-wide lockdowns, closure of businesses, loss of livelihoods and worst of all, the loss of lives.

The vaccine rollout was a race, and everyone knew it. Everyone but Scott Morrison.

Published in the Liverpool Champion on 14 September 2021: https://www.liverpoolchampion.com.au/story/7429424/werriwa-matters-with-anne-stanley-the-vaccine-rollout-was-a-race-and-everyone-knew-it-but-scott-morrison/