Morrison government was ‘playing with fire’ by ‘betting the house’ on two vaccines

Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations Tony Burke says the Morrison government was “playing with fire” by deciding to “bet the house” on two vaccines. This comes after it was announced the AstraZeneca vaccine will be phased out by the end of the year since after its use was restricted to those aged 60 and older due to blood clotting concerns. “Right back last year, Labor was arguing world’s best practice was to be contracting with five or six different companies, so you had a series of vaccines available to your population,” he said. “The government bet the house on AstraZeneca and as a result you now have a situation where the health advice has changed with respect to that. “I’m not critical of that, what I am critical of is the fact we’ve had nowhere else to go. “If you only give yourself two options then you’re playing with fire”.