Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the king of inconsistencies, has compared getting vaccinated to competing in the Olympics, despite his previous assertions that the vaccine rollout is ‘not a race’.
Morrison said “the supplies are there” for people to be vaccinated, and called for everyone to take up vaccines with the same rigour we are seeing from athletes competing in the Olympics.
“All of Australia, like our Olympians, we go for gold on getting those vaccination rates where we need to go,” he said.
“Because these supplies is (sic) there, the distribution is there, pharmacists, GPs, clinics, and we make a gold medal run all the way to the end of this year.”
“I know every Australian has that Olympian spirit in them, and I have great confidence that we will beat this, Australia.”
I don’t know about you, but this sounds an awful lot like telling us to race to get vaccinated. Even though apparently this isn’t one. No race here, no sir. Hmm.
https://twitter.com/min_chew/status/1420246641773223941?s=20
That being said, I’m happy for us to treat getting vaxxed as a race, because the sooner we get vaccinated, the sooner we’ll be out of this mess.
What I don’t appreciate is the spinning of events to make it sound like it’s simply up to people to get vaccinated, when until recently most people weren’t eligible for any health-recommended options. At least things are getting better on that front, even if the government wants to deflect responsibility for who, exactly, is responsible for getting people vaxxed.
The PM reckons if all things work out, we should have our vaccine rollout goals all checked and done by… Christmas. Sigh. Slowest Olympic game ever.
“By the end of the year we will be in that position, where everybody who has had the opportunity will have had it,” Morrison said.
“I would expect by Christmas that we would be seeing a very different Australia to what we are seeing now … lockdowns become a thing of the past when you are at that level.”
He also praised the NSW government for setting up AstraZeneca walk-in clinics, encouraging people to trust the vaccine.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine is a safe vaccine, an effective vaccine, it has saved lives all around the world.
“It is the most recognised vaccine in the world, by all countries, particularly when they are looking at people travelling. It is more recognised even than Pfizer.”
Look, I am glad that our government is finally starting to get its shit together with this vaccine rollout, even if the messaging is inconsistent, or at times even incomplete.
For people like me me who live in the south-western areas of Sydney that are mired with exposure sites and positive COVID-19 cases, the vaccine rollout is and always was a race. And I’m glad it’s finally being treated as such, even if it’s 18 months late.
