Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Acting Prime Minister. The government announced that all aged-care workers would be fully vaccinated by Easter, but the minister just confirmed that only 41,000 of 360,000 workers, or one in nine, have been fully vaccinated as of today. Can the Acting Prime Minister explain why this document shows the tender to allow onsite vaccinations for aged-care staff has been extended and now does not close until the end of July?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is in fact an additional tender over and above that which has already been in place. As I mentioned earlier, we have now delivered vaccines to 100 per cent of residential aged-care facilities through the four principal providers—Aspen Medical, SOS, Healthcare Australia and Sonic. All of those four have completed 100 per cent of first dose vaccination visits. At 94.9 per cent, they are currently going through the process of completing the last five per cent of that, three weeks after the first one. In addition, at the request of the sector, we have made sure there is also the capacity for those firms or facilities which wish to provide vaccinations to their own workers to do that. An example was TLC, which has done that in Victoria, I believe, across 13 facilities. It is one of five principal channels we have for vaccinations of aged-care workers. The first of those, of course, has been the provider in-reach. The second, which is being referred to here, is the capacity for individual facilities to do as TLC has done, and a number of—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition, the minister for health has the call.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

of providers have sought the capacity to do that, so we have responded to the requests of the providers.

In addition to that, this week we announced the $56.75 in-home visitation fee for GPs. Further, there is the capacity for vaccination at general practices or Commonwealth general practice respiratory clinics. Finally, there is the capacity for vaccination at state-run clinics. All of those are being used. This was an extension to that which was already in place, over and above, and I'm a little surprised that the member was not aware of that.