ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのSingapore PFIZER COVID VACCINE swap deal announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison

31 Aug 2021 Canberra, ACT
Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Aged Care
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. I’m joined by the Health Minister, the Health and Aged Care Minister, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Women.

Our vaccination program is central to our national plan. Our national plan enables us to live with the virus, not fear it. That is our future. That's what we're moving towards, with each and every dose that is administered all around this country. All states and territories are on this journey of the national plan, but they're starting from different places. There isn't a common COVID position across the country. The situation in Tasmania and Western Australia is, of course, very different to what we're experiencing here in the ACT and New South Wales and Victoria, and different again in Queensland and South Australia, and of course the Northern Territory. But, the place we're heading to is the same - we may all be starting from a different point - and that place is bringing us all together again, connect us again as Australians, and to connect Australia to the world. That is the objective of the national plan. So, for wherever we're starting, the destination is what we share.

And, in addition to our vaccination program, there are many other elements that support it. Of course, there is the ‘test, trace, isolate and quarantine’ methods and measures, and they will look very different in Phase B and Phase C of the plan, as we discussed last week in National Cabinet, and further work is being done there. There's the public health social measures. They will continue. There is not a time that we are contemplating where we move into Phase B and Phase C that they are not part of our management of our COVID response. They are low level measures, sure, but they are necessary. They will continue. Other countries have chosen not to do that, but Australia has chosen to do that - to combine our successful measures, to keep them at a low level so as not to inconvenience Australians unnecessarily, and to combine that with test, trace, isolate, quarantine and, of course, our vaccination program. And, then there is the keen focus that we have long held on ensuring that our public health system can cope with the pressures that undoubtedly do emerge. And, that has been our focus for many, many months. That has been, in particular, a standing item, not only on the National Cabinet agenda but, of course, our own National Security Committee of Cabinet here at a federal level, led by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, in ensuring that we are providing the support necessary - and indeed some $6 billion or thereabouts has been provided specifically support the public health response of the states and territory on our 50-50 sharing, cost-sharing arrangement that has been in place since the beginning of our cooperation under this pandemic.

But, of course, most significantly, to drive the national plan forward, is the vaccination program, and it's important that we acknowledge that Australians have been responding at record levels. Our vaccination rates each week now exceed those on a per capita basis on the best of weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Tasmania is leading the charge with the highest double dose vaccination rate in the country. And, New South Wales is running first when it comes to first dose vaccinations around the country, and others are close behind. Across the country, 58.7 per cent of Australians have had their first dose and 35 per cent have had their second dose. Now, that compares to some 40.5 per cent just a month ago - up now to 58.7 [per cent]. And, 18.7 per cent just a month ago - now at almost double that at 35 per cent.

I said when I announced the additional Polish doses that we were able to get for Pfizer that I would leave no stone unturned in bringing forward and accessing more doses of mRNA vaccines, and that's exactly what we've done. We've continued on, and I'm pleased to announce today that we'll be boosting our September effort with a new dose swap deal with Singapore which will see 500,000 doses arrive this week for distribution next week - 500,000 more doses of hope. That comes on top of the some 4.5 million that we already have planned for September, and the one million Moderna doses, and the many other millions of doses that are available from our AstraZeneca production, to ensure that we can continue on in September with the strong surge that we had over August.

It's a dose swap deal, which simply means we're taking the 500,000 they have now, so we can put that into our distribution this month coming, in September, and we will provide them with 500,000 in December. That means there are 500,000 doses extra that will happen in September that otherwise would have had to wait for several months from now, accelerating our vaccination program at this critical time as we work towards those 70 per cent and 80 per cent targets.

This will greatly assist the national vaccination program as it brings in two important age groups into the program. The 16 to 29s, which are, have already, which begin, have already begun this week and, of course, the 12 to 15-year-olds. Remember, there's 1.2 million children aged 12 to 15, and they start with bookings from the 13th of September, and so this will greatly assist with both of those efforts as those new age groups come in.

The doses will be distributed across our GP and state hub network and across the states and territories - in total between both of those. It will be done on a per capita basis. We need to vaccinate the whole country and we need for those doses to go from one end of the country to the other and for them to be taken up.

I want to particularly thank Prime Minister Lee, whom I directly discussed and pursued this matter with, and I want to thank the Government of Singapore more broadly, and the Health Minister who’s worked closely with Greg to ensure we've been able to bring this agreement to a conclusion. We have a tremendous partnership with Singapore and I've worked with Prime Minister Lee now over these last three years, and was there most recently just a few months ago as we stood together in Singapore and swapped notes on our respective responses to COVID-19 and many other issues.

I also want to thank Minister Hunt and Minister Payne and all of their teams for the great job that they have done in bringing yet another of these agreements together, after our successful Polish dose arrangement, which has already found its way into people's arms all around the country.

I want to give a special shoutout to our High Commissioner Will Hodgman, who I sent up there and he’s doing a fantastic job, and to all of your team, Will, thank you very, very much for the great work you've done.

And, of course, Professor Murphy and the great team down there at the Department of Health and Aged Care, who continue to steward these arrangements, and now it's over to General Frewen to get them out, and for the GPs and our state hubs to be getting those doses into arms.

Now, there are more irons in the fire, but there's more work to do on these, and I'll announce further arrangements once we're in a position to do so. As I said, I'd leave no stone unturned on this, and this is further demonstration that that has been the focus of the Government. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. These are 500,000 doses of hope and 500,000 doses of protection for Australians. The big journey that we are on is, when we take into account the three million Pfizer we were able to bring forward from October, November and December to the current quarter, the Polish doses, now Singapore, and any other options, as the Prime Minister has indicated, what we will see is that we will have brought forward the balance and burden of our vaccination program from October and November to August and September. And, at this point in time, that means, as the PM says, that we've now passed 19.36 million doses that have been delivered - 276,000 in the last 24 hours, and I understand Victoria has a significant number of additional doses that they will be able to add to that, which, once they've been uploaded to the immunisation register. Very significantly, this now is a rolling average of over 1.9 million doses a week. That was a figure we'd hoped to reach in late September and early October, but has been achieved in August. And, that's protection but it's also hope, and hastens forward the pathway through to people regaining as much of their lives as early as possible, which is so absolutely critical.

Just to add to this, there’s a very important figure - we’ve now passed 12 million first doses. That’s 12.1 million first doses. What that means is that to get to the 70 per cent mark of 14.5 million, there are 2.4 million people we need to come forward. To get to the 80 per cent first dose mark of 16.5 million, there are now 4.4 million people we need to come forward. These are not huge numbers. These are numbers, when you look at what we’re doing - 1.9 million a week - are easily within reach. But, we do need everybody to keep coming forward. Australians have been magnificent, and I want to thank them and encourage them to continue to do so, wherever they are in Australia. Every dose matters, and every dose protects an individual, as well as helping to protect everyone else.

I’d just, in particular, add to the Prime Minister’s thanks. I want to extend my personal thanks to the Singaporean Health Minister, Minister Ong Ye Kung. He’s been a fantastic partner, as have all of our equivalents. I also want to acknowledge the High Commission and Will Hodgman, but within the Department of Health, Brendan Murphy and our chief negotiator Lisa Schofield, who have spent countless hours on this. They do this as public servants in the true meaning of the word. Throughout the pandemic, our public servants have worked around the clock and on behalf of the Australian community. So, it’s an important day, an additional day, a further day of hope for Australians.