The Project host Steve Price unleashes on health officials who refuse to give millions of young Aussies the COVID vaccine until everyone else is jabbed – effectively banning them from going on foreign holidays
- Reports suggest young people will not get the COVID-19 vaccine until late 2021
- Australians will not be able to travel internationally before they are vaccinated
- Steve Price said this is a form of ‘vaccination discrimination’ on The Project
- He sympathised with young people who won’t be able to travel come May, 2021
The Project’s Steve Price has called out ‘vaccination discrimination’ after it was revealed Australians will be split into 12 different age brackets for the vaccine roll out.
Initial reports on Wednesday revealed that healthcare workers and the elderly will prioritised – meaning those in their 20s will have to wait until late next year to be vaccinated.
This means it’s unlikely they will be able to travel internationally, as Scott Morrison has made clear he’d wanted people arriving back into Australia to be vaccinated – or else spend two weeks in hotel quarantine.
On Thursday’s episode of The Project, host Waleed Aly asked Price if he ‘agrees that he should be getting the vaccine over a 20-something-year-old’.
Steve Price (left) said younger people face ‘vaccination discrimination’ since they will have to wait next year to be immunised – while older people (right) enjoy early access
‘I’m not quite at the top of the list, they are starting at 80-plus,’ Price replied.
‘I think most of us were surprised to learn this morning that they are going to limit the vaccinations for people under the age of say 60, and the 20-year-olds won’t get it until later in the year (2021).
‘I would have thought once you got all essential workers, frontline health care workers and the elderly vaccinated then it would be a free-for-all but apparently that is not going to happen.’
Co-host Mark Fennell then questioned whether it was simply logical to vaccinate older people first, since they are more vulnerable.
The majority of people globally who have died from the virus have been the very elderly and immuno-compromised people.
Price said ‘it does’ make sense that older people are vaccinated first but sympathised that young people would not be able to fly overseas by April or May in 2021, while he would
‘The acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly didn’t confirm it but on some level though, Steve, it does kind of make sense, like you start with the oldest and work down. That has some logic to it, right?’ Fennell asked.
‘It does. Particularly given what happened with the aged care in Victoria in particular where tragically we lost many people,’ Price replied.
‘I don’t think most Australians were prepared to think that there was going to be vaccination discrimination, that you are 25 years old, come say April or May next year you won’t be able to get on a plane but if you are my age, 65 years old you will be able to fly.
‘I’m not sure how they are going to work that out and there is a lot of questions to be asked about exactly who is going to get this and when.’
On Wednesday, it was revealed Australians will be split into 12 different age groups that will determine how soon they receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s rolled out in early 2021.
Passengers arrive at Brisbane International airport on Wednesday. Australians will not be able to fly overseas until they are vaccinated, which will be checked by airlines
Frontline healthcare workers will be prioritised, followed by those over 70 and the 65-69 age bracket.
The rest of the nation will be divided into five-year increment age groups.
This means Australians in their 20s hoping to travel overseas will likely have to wait until the end of next year to get the vaccine.
Qantas announced last month that passengers must show proof they’ve been vaccinated before being allowed to fly internationally.
There likely won’t be any under-18 year olds receiving the jab at all in 2021 as pharmaceutical companies aren’t looking for approval in younger Australians as they are a lower risk.
The prime minister has also said having the vaccine could be mandatory for those entering Australia, or else travellers would have to do two weeks of hotel quarantine.
The exact order of immunisation for certain age groups won’t be revealed by the federal government until late January.
A woman is vaccinated. The exact order of immunisation for certain age groups won’t be revealed by the Federal Government until late January
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