Zaraki KenpachiAs Victorians head back into lockdown, the slow pace of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign has again been thrust into the spotlight .
“If more people were vaccinated, we might be facing a very different set of circumstances than we are today,” Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino told reporters on Thursday.
The rollout has suffered multiple setbacks ranging from disruptions to global supply, to delays in local production and unreliable distribution from the Commonwealth to the states and GPs.
Even before the AstraZeneca shakeup in April threw the entire strategy into disarray, Australia’s vaccine rollout had fallen short of every target.
“We don’t want to make promises that we can’t keep. That is incredibly important,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison assured Australians in January.
In the three months since the official launch of the vaccine campaign on February 22, the government has announced more than a dozen targets, revisions or updates to the rollout plan.
If you’re having trouble keeping up, chances are you’re not alone.
So when can Australians expect to be vaccinated against COVID-19? We’ve tracked the twists and turns. Here’s how Australia’s rollout timetable has changed since the first targets were announced in January.
