Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health, Senator Colbeck. In an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald entitled 'NSW pharmacists stuck in waiting game for vaccines' Mario Barone, a pharmacist in Western Sydney's hotspot suburb of Fairfield reported that, despite placing a second order for AstraZeneca doses on Monday, the vaccines won't arrive for nearly three weeks. He said: 'These vaccines are in a fridge somewhere, but they aren't in pharmacy fridges.' Given that there have been, tragically, five more deaths from COVID-19 recorded in New South Wales today, why are pharmacists in the hotspot of Fairfield waiting almost three weeks for AstraZeneca vaccines to arrive?