Covid in Australia: the population furious at the management of the pandemic by the government

Audio 01:12

In a street in Sydney, Australia, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, July 21, 2021. REUTERS - LOREN ELLIOTT

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4 min

While Australia currently has the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rate of any OECD country, according to the latest data, it stands at 13.5%, Prime Minister Scott Morrison first admitted responsibility for what looks like a fiasco.

It is the anger among Australians since, currently, about half of them are again under confinement.

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With our correspondent in Sydney,

Grégory Plesse

From a leading position in managing the pandemic last year, Australia is now at the back of the pack when it comes to immunization.

In question, the bad choices of the government which relied almost exclusively on the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca.

Then very quickly, the health authorities advised against it for people under the age of 60 because of the very limited risks of contracting a blood clot.

The only other vaccine currently available, the one produced by Pfizer, is in very limited supply.

Tanley, confined for three weeks like all the inhabitants of Sydney, is angry: “ 

So far, our government has still not succeeded in setting up an effective vaccination campaign thanks to which the majority of us could being vaccinated, and that pisses me off.

 "

► See also:

Covid-19: in Australia, new restrictions imposed on the population of Sydney

Prime Minister's

Mea Culpa

While Melbourne is also reconfined, but also Adelaide, since Tuesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison made his

mea culpa

this Wednesday, July 21

.

“ 

I take responsibility for the problems we had,

” he said.

But I also take responsibility for the solutions we develop and the vaccination rates we are now achieving. 

"

In fact, the pace of vaccinations has accelerated in recent weeks and currently stands at around one million per week.

However, this remains far below the rate observed in other developed countries.

But Australia's ambitions in this area are rather modest: the goal is for the entire population, 25 million, to have received at least one dose by the end of the year.

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  • Australia

  • Vaccines

  • Coronavirus