Morrison must be sacked for AZ vaccine statement

Originally posted by madamswer: ↑

"If the govt had secured ample supplies
of Pfizer the risk of blood clots would not be an issue. What galls is that the deaths from blood clots
linked to Astra Zeneca could be avoided if the right vaccine had been available."

So should the government have acquired sufficient quantities of every Covid going, just in case one of them was a dud?

Three further questions arising:

1. What was - and still is, I believe - the World Health Organisation's advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine which, in at least some part, would have informed the basis for the Australian government going with AstraZzeneca?

2. Which other government(s) around the world bought sufficient stocks for their entire country's population of every vaccine that was developed?

3. If that "buy-as-many-vaccines-as-possible-just-in-case-one-is-a-dud" strategy was deployed by governments of countries that could afford to do so, what about the people living in poor countries who would go without vaccines as a result of the vaccine hoarding?

[I asked another poster, who was critical of the government's focus on AstraZenica, these same questions.... he/she is yet to respond. Maybe you will.]

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Here’s some responses:

1. WHO advice on AstraZeneca is that it’s an acceptable vaccine with risks.

The real problem has been the mixed messaging from the Feds and a lack of effective public education. E.g. all of the Federal Ministers were showed getting Pfizer. Negative public perception on AZ was shaped very early by the government itself.

2. We didn’t need to buy enough of “every” vaccine but we put ALL our eggs in the AZ basket. E.g. The UK, where the Oxford AZ vaccine was actually created still organised sufficient supplies of Pfizer (and some Moderna I believe) to mitigate the risk. We alone of developed countries planned no effective contingency.

3. If we had applied the effective mitigation strategy (as per item 2) we would have been better placed to help the region with surplus vaccine supply.

Bottom line, the government’s adopted “let’s go with AZ solely” approach scores poorly on all criteria you have raised.

And we haven’t even started talking about quarantine and the preferential treatment of 20,000 non citizens, many with Covid, coming and going as they please (let’s just put “business” as “reason for travel” shall we) while Australian citizens can’t come home.

You love your “straw men” to try and frame the topic on your terms. Unfortunately in this case the term “Utter Debacle” doesn’t even come close.