The Premier and his Health Minister need to act now to increase access to vaccinations in regional Tasmania given the low vaccination rate and increasing COVID outbreaks among school children.
Shadow Health Minister Anita Dow said with more than 40 COVID-19 outbreaks occurring in Tasmanian schools – with half of the schools located in the North West and only 50 per cent of five to 11-year-olds in the region now having received their first dose – the Liberal Government needs to be applying much more urgency to providing access to clinics.
“It’s not good enough that just yesterday the government conceded that it is only now investigating providing greater access to vaccinations for children,” Ms Dow said.
“It’s not good enough that Tasmanians in rural and regional areas are still having to travel to larger centres to access vaccinations for their children and booster shots in a state-run clinic.
“Why is this work only happening now when the Premier and the Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff have maintained that they had prepared for their decision to open the border to COVID?
“Why are we still the only state in the country that does not allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations?
“Mr Rockliff needs to tell Tasmanians when he intends to stand up regional and remote clinics.
“Mr Gutwein needs to focus on delivering for Tasmanians as he promised rather than focus on the chaos and disarray in his Cabinet.”
Anita Dow MP
Shadow Health Minister
