COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:24): My question is to the Premier. How many vaccinations does the Premier aim that the state government will administer by the end of April?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:24): I thank the member for his question. I don't have that figure with me at the moment. What I know is that we began the rollout of phase 1a of the vaccination program on 22 February. That was the Pfizer vaccine. That has gone extraordinarily well.

There are some very specific complexities around this vaccine due to the cold chain logistical requirements of this. I would like to say that we have done extraordinarily well with putting our own equipment into place in major hospitals across South Australia and managing the rollout of the upgrade of staffing capability to make sure that vaccine is administered effectively.

I also can inform the house that, of course, we were the first state in Australia to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine, and that was done up at the Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital. I think we feel very proud that South Australia led the nation with regard to this. The AstraZeneca vaccine, of course, is a vaccine which doesn't require the same level of cold chain management; in fact, it's very similar to other vaccines which we use in South Australia. It's particularly important for regional and remote Australia and it's very important for our state, so I am very pleased that that's occurring.

Our Chief Public Health Officer has made it clear from day one that we want to do this right, not rush. Some people are obsessed with the run rate. Overall, we want to provide a safe, effective vaccine, a free vaccine, for all South Australians eligible for this vaccine. That's precisely what's going to occur.