The critical frontline health workers hit out at the rollout as it moved into phase 1b on Monday, with the first of the general population included in the cohort lining up for a vaccine.It covers the over 70s, healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 55 and adults with a specified medical condition.Critical and high-risk workers including Defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing are also included under phase 1b.Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said it was estimated just 350 members had been vaccinated.“If we have further outbreaks of COVID-19, our members are among the first to be exposed. The rollout doesn’t seem to take this into account and it isn’t good enough,” Mr hill said.“We have members driving over 150km to get the vaccine or turning to their own GP. I am aware of a paramedic waiting for her vaccination while her husband, a plumber, has received his.“In places like Warrnambool, hundreds of meatworkers have been vaccinated which is great for them, yet vaccinations of paramedics has not even started”.But a government spokesperson said more than 3,000 paramedics had either already received a vaccine, or were in the system and had received their invitation to be vaccinated.She said more paramedics had been vaccinated than the combined total of Victoria Police, Fire Rescue Victoria and SES workers who had been vaccinated.But Opposition Health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said paramedics had been let down by the state government.“The Andrews Labor Government has failed to put in place a proper plan for this important rollout and instead continues to blame others for its failures,” she said.Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s chief COVID-19 response commander, said there was a long way to go in the rollout to the state’s five million people.It’s hoped around 300,000 at-risk and vulnerable Victorians would receive the vaccine by April.But concern is mounting on whether the state’s GPs will be able to keep up with the ambitious targets set by governments heading into winter.Health Minister Greg Hunt urged Australians to be patient when they were trying to make appointments for themselves or vulnerable family members.GP phone lines were clogged and the government’s eligibility checker repeatedly crashed when it was launched last week. “There’s enough vaccine for every Australian three times over,” Mr Hunt said. More than 55,000 Victorians, and 280,000 Australians, have so far received their first doses of the vaccine. Mr Hunt insisted that the introduction of locally-produced AstraZeneca jabs would speed the rollout to more than 1 million doses a week before the end of phase 1b.



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