New report highlights failures in aged care vaccine rollout

Aged care staff and residents were left waiting for COVID-19 vaccines last year due to a profound lack of planning by the federal government, a new report has shown.

An analysis by the auditor-general found the health department failed to hit critical vaccine targets for high-risk populations in 2021 because it underestimated “the complexity of administering in-reach services to the aged care and disability sectors”.

All aged care residents and staff were meant to be vaccinated during the first phase of the government’s vaccine rollout in February 2021.

It wasn’t until June 2021 that second dose vaccine clinics for aged care residents were completed.

By July, federal health department figures showed only a third of aged care workers had fully vaccinated. 

NDIS residential disability residents did not reach 80 per cent double vaccinated until 9 November 2021.

Poor uptake of the vaccine in aged care and the disability sectors was driven by a lack of consultation and engagement with providers, the report said.

By the end of 2021, there were a total of 918 deaths in aged care facilities across Australia.

Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said the findings laid bare a “multitude of failures” on behalf of the former government.

“The report found there was a lack of targets and, when there were targets, the rollout completely missed their deadlines, especially for priority populations,” he said.

"The weekly program management report provided to the former Minister for Health and Prime Minister also included the key risks to the rollout for the week and the status of key program milestones.

"As far back as 10 March 2021 the report identified the slow rollout to residential aged care facilities as a key risk and in reach to residential disability settings was ‘at risk’."

The Health Department has agreed to all of the recommendations put forward by the auditor-general, including a "comprehensive" review of the nation's vaccine rollout due by the end of December.

In a recent statement, Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston defended the Coalition's handling of the rollout.

"The auditor-general found the approach to planning Australia's vaccine rollout became more effective as the rollout progressed, as we learnt how to best manage this unprecedented situation," she said.

As of 17 August, approximately 160,416 of Australia's aged care residents have received three or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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