'Follow the medical advice': Premier slams PM's Covid decision
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has taken aim at the prime minister's Monday night call to endorse the AstraZeneca vaccine for under 40s, urging Queenslanders not to listen to him.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Annastacia Palaszczuk said the National Cabinet was not consulted on the move.
"There has been no national cabinet decision about providing AstraZeneca to the under 40s. Let me say that again – there's been no national cabinet decision about providing AstraZeneca to the under 40s," she said.
“I’d like to ask the prime minister did his Cabinet make the decision?”
Ms Palaszczuk noted the advice in the UK which also recommended an alternative vaccine for those under 40, and implored Queenslanders to ignore the latest change in rhetoric from Scott Morrison.
"I urge Queenslanders to listen to Dr Young, and follow the advice of our chief health officer. Also, we follow the medical advice. And the medical advice is very clear," she said.
It comes as the Australian Medical Association refused to endorse the move by the prime minister and criticised the lack of consultation as GPs were not given warning of the change in the Commonwealth position this week.
PM's call 'puts Queenslanders at risk': Deputy Premier
Queensland authorites lined up to criticise the federal government's sluggish vaccine rollout on Wednesday, saying their requests for additional Pfizer vaccine were denied.
"We don't know if that's the end of it," the state's health minister Yvette D'Ath complained.
Deputy premier Steven Miles said the Queensland government will only administer vaccines to people that are recommended to them.
"For the prime minister to attempt to overrule the medical advice and provide a vaccine that is not recommended for people under 60 puts Queenslanders at risk," he said.
Contact tracers on top of Queensland Covid outbreak
Queensland recorded three new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 as parts of the state entered their first day of a snap lockdown.
All three are close contacts of existing cases.
"We are considering these as low risks," Ms Palaszczuk said, saying health authorites were confident the three-day lockdown would serve its purpose.
One is the brother of a hospital receptionist while another is a close contact of a Virgin Australia flight attendant who tested positive on Saturday.
The third is linked to a Portuguese restaurant cluster and has been in hotel quarantine.
It comes after the hospital receptionist tested positive for the Delta variant and was in the community for 10 days during her infectious period including holidaying on Magnetic Island. The woman was not vaccinated despite working at a desk outside the Covid ward at the hospital.
Millions of people in southeast Queensland, Townsville, Magnetic Island and Palm Island were plunged into lockdown on Tuesday evening.
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