The Australian National Audit Office found while the vaccines were delivered with minimal wastage, the rollout did not meet deadlines. “While 90 per cent of the eligible Australian population was vaccinated by the end of 2021, the planning and implementation of the vaccine rollout to priority groups was not as effective,” the report said.Residential aged and disability care were specifically noted as areas where the rollout was slower than planned.The vaccination rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also remained lower than for the Australian population.Initial planning of the program was found to be “not timely”, with the reports stating detailed planning with the states and territories had not been completed before the vaccines were rolled out. “Further, it did not incorporate the government’s targets for the rollout into its planning until a later stage,” the report said. The audit office has recommended the Health Department undertake a comprehensive review of the vaccine rollout. In a statement, the department welcomed the audit office’s findings.“The department notes that such a review would logically form part of an expected broader review into the Covid-19 pandemic with the timing still to be agreed by government,” it said. Health Minister Mark Butler used the report to lash former prime minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the pandemic. “It’s clear the former prime minister was more interested in getting jobs for himself than getting jabs in arms,” Mr Butler said. “For much of 2021, Australia had one of the slowest vaccine rollouts in the developed world.“Australians languished in lockdown, workers couldn’t go to work and students couldn’t go to school because the former government failed to do its job and roll out the vaccine.”
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