Well, a couple of issues caused the problem. One was rather than rely on existing structures that successfully give the flu jab to residents, with local GP's visiting aged care homes, the Federal GOV. outsourced the booster rollout to private companies, then companies [ which I wont name] took holidays over the XMAS break. As of Jan 11, at least 1,000 aged care homes had not had COVID booster shots.& It must be said that compared to Federally run aged care homes, residents in Victorian government aged care homes received their boosters before XMAS. It has been reported that no resident of a Victorian government aged care home had died as of 11 Jan. from COVID, whereas 793 residents of private Aged Care homes in Victoria, very sadly, have passed away from COVID.
And in NSW, it has been reported the NSW Government went ahead lifting restrictions despite warnings from NSW Health that vaccinations may not be effective against Omicron without the booster shot, and increased hospitalisations would result.A briefing note from NSW Health Clinical Intelligence Unit to the NSW government on 10 December 2021 warned about the additional risks of Omicron, the note warned "protection from vaccines may be less effective" and early reports from Africa showed " increasing rates of hospitalisation".
Five days after the note was sent, the NSW Government scrapped the mandatory wearing of face masks in public places, QR check ins , density limits and proof of vaccination checks. I hope this makes things a little clearer, all of the information provided here can be found posted by reputable sources from many reports across the internet.
Before I go, I must post what I have found from reports about Aged Care Home infections. It is obvious the failure to provide RAT tests [ after the Federal Minister stated on 15 August that RAT's would be available to Aged Care Homes to screen employees and visitors ], has resulted in Aged Care Home infections and lock downs .Staff testing positive at work are responsible for the majority of infections in Aged Care Homes, and the most recent data I can find states that as of Jan. 7 , only 668 of the 2704 Private Aged Care Homes had received Rapid Antigen Tests.
I remember in QLD the State Government said that they would take responsibility for vaccinating all Aged Care residents because of the slow rollout from the Federal Government. Up to this point I haven't found data to back that up, nor do I know the number of aged care residents who have passed away from COVID. One news report I found was the Qld opposition were making loud noises about " State Government hiding the number of Indigenous deaths from COVID ".This showed a complete ignorance of the Indigenous culture regarding " sorry business". I will post this up to clear this up.
Sorry Business: Mourning an Aboriginal death - Creative Spirits
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