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‘Totally unhelpful’: backlash at NSW minister’s ‘not enough GPs’ comment
There was a strong reaction to Brad Hazzard’s ‘political’ remarks about the number of GPs involved in the vaccination rollout.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard angered GPs by intimating that not enough had been participating in the COVID vaccine rollout. (Image: AAP)
‘Flatly wrong’: that is how one GP reacted to a statement made by NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, which appeared to query the contribution of general practice.
After telling gathered media that he would be ‘careful’ with his words, Minister Hazzard said the supply of Pfizer and number of GPs participating in the rollout were among the challenges facing the vaccination rollout in the state.
‘The big issue is, there is plenty of AstraZeneca around. It’s the Pfizer [supply]. And AstraZeneca is obviously principally being delivered through GPs,’ he said on Wednesday. ‘There are not enough GPs to actually deliver the AstraZeneca.’
Minister Hazzard also made a point of specifically thanking medical staff at state-run vaccination clinics but made no acknowledgement towards GPs participating in the rollout.
The remarks were widely reported and later amplified on social media, perhaps most notably by journalist Michelle Grattan.
Among many to query the statement was Dr Tim Senior, who pointed out GPs are administering most of the vaccines in Australia, despite dealing with supply issues, as well as conducting most of the conversations about vaccine hesitancy.
Supply was mentioned several times, with one doctor calling the statement false and accusing Minister Hazzard of
‘gaslighting GPs’.
There were many non-medical contributors to the debate too, with one saying she was sorry
GPs ‘were being thrown under a bus’.
Geelong-based practice owner Dr Cameron Loy was among those unhappy with the way the remarks were reported, telling
newsGP Minister Hazzard was ‘flatly wrong’.
‘It goes unchallenged and it goes uncontested, whereas we know that GPs are the largest mass vaccination service in the country and
we have delivered more than 50% of the vaccines that have currently been delivered,’ Dr Loy said.
‘We are efficient [and] we are actually cheap as well – we are orders of magnitude cheaper than the mass vaccination clinics.
‘What annoys me is when the fourth estate doesn’t challenge it properly. My expectation is they would start trying to work out if there was any validity in that statement.’
For Dr Ken McCroary, a practice owner in Campbelltown in Sydney, the remarks highlighted an all-too-common misunderstanding of primary healthcare.
‘Comments like that are totally unhelpful and interpreted as being quite demoralising and disrespectful, and show a complete lack of understanding about those facing these comments throughout the entire pandemic,’ he told
newsGP.
Dr McCroary said he wished politicians across the political spectrum took more care with the way they framed their messaging.
‘Vaccination should be bipartisan and that includes a broader team of political leaders and those engaged with face-to-face on-the-ground COVID prevention and treatment,’ he said.
‘These random comments from our leaders haven’t helped in a program that has been struggling since day one in the middle of a pandemic when everyone should be on the same side.’
Dr Loy also believes there is an issue with the way Minister Hazzard referenced the state vaccination centres; the NSW Health Minister said they were ‘set up to backfill and to fill in because the Federal Government was not getting enough vaccine out through the GPs’.
‘I don’t understand the necessity of these politicians to try and frame things in that manner because it just doesn’t help,’ Dr Loy said.
‘The state vaccination hubs were always an important part of the rollout. They were always going to be an important part of the rollout.
‘Mass vaccination centres aren’t there because there weren’t enough GPs. Mass vaccination centres are there because they were always part of the plan – so I don’t understand why the existence of mass vaccination clinics needs to be couched in those terms. It doesn’t make any sense.’
Dr Loy meanwhile said he would be delighted to have more people involved in the rollout, but that supply remains the key issue.
‘We are going to have pharmacies and nurse vaccinators – everybody – getting involved in giving the vaccine, if we have enough,’ he said.
Other commentators also pointed out that community
pharmacies were asked to be part of the rollout in January.
The original question asked of Minister Hazzard was whether the 150,000 Pfizer vaccine doses which the Federal Government announced would be directed to New South Wales had gone into people’s arms – a query he did not answer directly.
The Department of Health
last week said it would be ‘bringing forward’ an additional 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for areas worst affected by the recent surge in cases. This was set to include 150,000 Pfizer and 150,000 AstraZeneca ‘to support the NSW Government’s response to the current outbreak’.
The Federal announcement said the vaccines ‘would be targeted where they are most needed, based upon direction from NSW Health’.
The latest vaccination statistics show a record number of doses were administered in primary care on Wednesday, with
a total of 104,840 delivered in 24 hours.
The state-led vaccinations have been led by Victoria in raw numerical terms, where the hubs account for 1,453,158 of the total delivered. The number of vaccinations being administered in NSW hubs is now faster, however, with 23,549 people receiving a dose on Wednesday.
Dr Talitha Barrett, a GP based in Central Victoria who
also responded to Ms Grattan’s social media post, said the current high level of cases means it is time for all ‘hands on deck’.
‘It’s a secondary benefit with the outbreak that it has got people out for vaccinations,’ Dr Barrett told
newsGP.
‘People were a bit funny, even about Pfizer – but once they see it in the community, they change their minds, which makes a huge difference.’
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