Premier demands aged care answer on staff vaccinations

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on the Federal Government to explain why its COVID-19 vaccination program is seeing aged care facility residents immunised while staff are left out in the cold.

At a media conference this morning, the Premier also asked the government to release vaccination figures on a daily basis.

“Queensland is releasing its vaccine numbers every day. We do not see that from the federal government. Secondly, we need to have guaranteeled supply and we need to have guaranteed times of delivery,” she said today.

“We need surety of supply, guarantee of supply by the federal government and if the states are releasing their figures every day, I think that it is only fair, fair and reasonable, that the federal government releases their figures every day.”

She called upon the Commonwealth to explain its decision to vaccinate aged care facility residents but to not include staff in the immunisation program.

“There is nothing more important at the moment… the most vulnerable in our aged care homes are getting the vaccine by the Commonwealth but they’re not doing the staff.”

The Premier’s questions came as the state’s chief health officer revealed just three new cases of COVID-19 – one in hotel quarantine and two linked to an existing case.

Both new cases are linked to the Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse cluster – another nurse at the hospital and her flatmate.

In the last 24 hours, 33,408 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Queensland.