Is not saying sorry the responsible thing to do? Ask the PM.
21 July 2021 · News
Comment from Peter Saxon.
In some circles, Scott Morrison is known as "Scotty from Marketing."
It’s not meant as a compliment. Rather, it suggests that the Prime Minister is all spin and no wa...
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Tags: Jase Hawkions | Peter Saxon Comment | Scott Morrison
I wish to comment on the remark made by the Qld Chief Medical Officer and the logistics of distribution and administration of the vaccines as reported in the media.
First, there has been much unjust criticism in the media of the Queensland Chief Medical Officer's ('CMO') remark "..."I don't want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness who, if they got COVID, probably wouldn't die....”
The CMO may have alluded to a case in Italy of an 18 year old woman who was jabbed with the AZ vaccine then died.
https://www.italy24news.com/News/81148.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/world/italy-weighs-restricting-astrazeneca-shots-in-younger-people.html
https://www.ruetir.com/2021/06/10/camilla-the-18-year-old-ligurian-vaccinated-with-astrazeneca-dies-ruetir/
https://www.gospanews.net/en/2021/06/13/disturbing-and-mysterious-death-of-18yo-camilla-after-vaccine-astrazenecas-jabs-stopped-in-italy-for-young-people/
So the criticism by the media commentators of the Queensland CMO's remark about an 18 year old dying from blood clots after the administration of the AZ vaccine may well be unwarranted. Thus the notion of an 18 year old dying from the adminstration of the AZ vaccine may well be valid.
Finally, I fully agree with the comments Mr Wright. May I add that the virus is apolitical. A person is infected regardless of what the infected person votes for.
Going back to Mr Wright's comments. At the start of the pandemic, Australia had one of the lowest death rates in the world. There were faults on the administration of lockdown policies with the "Ruby Princess" case in NSW and the deaths of several hundred patients in Victoria in July-August of 2020.
One would have expected that the logistics of planning the distribution of the vaccines would have been organised in late December 2020 such that the administration of the vaccines would be carried by hospitals, GPs, pharmacists and vaccination hubs. It was expected that it would be a smooth transition.
One issue has been the alleged stopping of the Pfizer vaccine by the EU. The EU Ambassador to Australia denies that the EU stopped export of the Pfizer vaccine while the Prime Minister alleges that the EU did stop exports of the Pfizer vaccine.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-07/eu-denies-blocked-shipment-over-3-million-vaccines-to-australia/100052134
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-09/european-union-not-block-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-australia/13134702
Not having access to the data of Pfizer imports in order to attribute "who is to blame" for the shortage of the Pfizer vaccine, I leave it to the reader.
Clearly the media reports of the way the vaccines have been distributed and adminnistered appears to media consumer as being disorganized. Much of the criticism has been typically "...if the flu shots have been administered by pharmacists and GPs why couldn't the same methods of distribution and administration of the covid vaccines be done the same way?..."
Nevertheless, there was a lack of supply of the Pfizer vaccine.
At the same time the government should have hedged their bets also on ordering approved such as Moderna and yet-to-be-approved vaccines such as Novovax in 2020. The logistics should have taken account of the equipment needed to store the Pfizer vaccines at -70 degrees celsius.
The distribution and administration of vaccines should have been made with co-operation of the Federal and State Governments as well as private enterprise specializing and/or willing to distribute vaccines requiring storage and transport at low temperatures.
The choice of a General from the Military such as Lt. Gen. Frewin is an excellent choice because the Military have extensive training, knowledge and real-life applications of logistics and risk management.
It is the ad-hoc "let's add GPs and Pharmacists now". That should have been planned at the beginning in the same way as flu shots have been planned.
Don't we have a record of how the "Sabin" (polio), tetanus and diptheria vaccines were distributed "in the old days"?
At the same time, despite the ineptness of the distribution and administration of vaccines for want of 'disorganization' by the Federal Government, for many reasons, we should be thankful that we live in Australia.
Thank you,
Anthony of exciting, dynamic, thoughtful Belfield
Peter, well summarised. On behalf of the Commonwealth Government the PM's "sorry" for numerous mistakes, contradictions and supply delays during the pandemic was justified but late. On the other side of the coin, I'm "sorry" that some media organisations and many of their journalists continually and deliberately go for the juggular. Always needling both State and Federal Governments and their Department Heads, demanding airtight guarantees, definite dates, engaging in crass personal attacks and generally playing politics, during a worldwide health disaster. As for playing politics during an incredibly difficult time, where the population needs to be reassured not alarmed, the Opposition also should say "sorry" for being more negative than positive over the Government's handling of the situation, mistakes and all. I'd like to see the shoe on the other foot......maybe, maybe not. Look, most Politicians (on both sides) are there with the best of intentions to serve the country to the best of their ability. Yes, they make mistakes, just like we ALL do in life. The problem with saying you're "sorry" in politics for something going wrong, is the inane blowback that follows from many, including the media plus the keyboard warriors, who would NEVER take on the job themselves, as they would simply drown, both from the workload and the continual sniping. I'm NOT "sorry" for getting this off my chest and for the record, I normally but NOT ALWAYS vote Liberal, in State and Federal politics. One of the answers to us getting through this, whatever your political persuasion is based on the old Glen Campbell song "Try A Little Kindness". Stay safe and healthy and 'whatever' lay ahead, be grateful we live in Australia !