The Morrison-Joyce Government must urgently supply more COVID-19 vaccines to the Lake Macquarie region to get on top of what could be a significant outbreak in our region.
Authorities have confirmed that a resident of an apartment complex in Windale has tested positive after being infectious in the community for days.
This follows a cluster of cases associated with the new Costco warehouse at Boolaroo which was sparked by infectious workers travelling to our region from Sydney.
In Windale, only 20-29% of residents are fully vaccinated.
This is noticeably lower than surrounding suburbs and is particularly concerning given the high Indigenous population and the number of residents with complex needs.
We need to get on top of this potential outbreak as soon as possible, and we cannot do that without more vaccines.
Yesterday Lieutenant General John Frewen, the National COVID Taskforce Coordinator-General said “vaccination is a really important part of our plan out of this thing. We’ve got the supplies, we’ve got the distribution networks”.
If that’s the case, the Morrison-Joyce Government should have no issue sending more vaccine doses to our region as a matter of urgency.
However I understand that Hunter New England Health has advised key stakeholders that they do not have any additional Pfizer vaccines to provide for a potential pop-up hub in Windale.
This is a direct result of the failures of Scott Morrison.
We would not be in the position if the Prime Minister had done his two jobs this year: a quick and effective vaccine rollout, and fix our leaky hotel quarantine system.
Not only has he failed on both fronts, he publicly urged the NSW Premier to “resist going into a full lockdown” eight days into the Bondi outbreak, which saw COVID-19 spread throughout Sydney and to our region.
Since the Hunter and Central Coast was placed into lockdown, our community has done what has been asked of them – as they have since the beginning of this pandemic.
It is time for the Morrison-Joyce Government to do their job and boost the local vaccine supply.