SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will seek support from defense forces in its COVID-19 immunization campaign, officials said on Wednesday, as it seeks to accelerate a delayed vaccination program.
The Australian Defense Force (ADF) will provide aid in the distribution of vaccines to elderly people living in rural and regional areas not easily accessible by other health providers, said acting Defense Minister Marise Payne.
ADF teams are expected to start next week and focus on planning, logistics and operations support.
“As we move into the next phase of the vaccine launch for the elderly and we continue to expand the teams, more nurses, pharmacists and providers are being added, with ADF vaccination teams complementing these efforts,” said Health Minister Greg Hunt, in a statement.
Australia began mass inoculation for its population of 25 million on February 22, with the frontline health team and the elderly receiving their first injections, but it missed its dosing target in the first week almost in half.
Authorities were only able to administer just under 34,000 doses in the first week, government data showed, as the pace of the immunization campaign slowed after two elderly people inadvertently received four times the recommended dose.
Minister Hunt, however, said the country’s vaccination schedule was about to end in late October, with more doses expected to arrive in the country without delay and local production of the vaccine would begin in a few weeks.
With just under 29,000 cases of COVID-19 and 909 deaths, Australia has largely escaped the high numbers compared to other developed countries, aided by rigid blockades, rapid tracking systems and border closures.
Australia on Tuesday extended the closure of its international borders for three months, until June 17, after authorities considered that the emergence of more virulent variants of the virus posed serious public health risks.
She has reported no or few single digit cases in the past few weeks.
Reporting by Renju Jose; Lincoln Feast edition.