There is evidence in the affirmative, at The Monthly, daily, whatevery:
Many people were blindsided by the prime minister’s late-night announcement that the AstraZeneca vaccine can now be administered to those under 40. Speaking after a national cabinet meeting, Scott Morrison revealed that GPs would receive increased vaccine indemnity, and that Australians of all ages would now be able to talk with their doctor about getting AstraZeneca – meaning vaccine eligibility has just been opened, for the first time, to under-40s across the country. As a result of the PM’s evening press conference, GPs have this morning been inundated with calls about the change, with doctors left confused, and many unwilling to administer the vaccine to younger cohorts until they receive official guidance. The Australian Medical Association was also taken by surprise, with president Dr Omar Khorshid saying: “We knew about the indemnity announcement but we didn’t expect the AstraZeneca announcement.” The booking system is chaotic, as Guardian Australia’s live blog has covered. But it’s not just doctors who were blindsided by the call. Two state health officials (from Victoria and Queensland) have since confirmed that the decision didn’t come out of last night’s national cabinet meeting. Nor is there mention of it in the post-meeting statement, which notes a bolstering of indemnity arrangements but nothing about opening eligibility to under-40s. Is it possible that an exhausted Morrison – whose communication is not the clearest at the best of times – did not mean to announce the change in AstraZeneca eligibility? In his confusing press conference, did the seemingly tired prime minister accidentally make a major alteration to the vaccine rollout?
The way Morrison made the announcement that those under 40 (“any age group”) could now speak to their GP about accessing AstraZeneca raised questions from the start. Rather than the PM announcing upfront what is a major change to the rollout, the news came about in answer to a question from a journalist seeking to clarify what the changes to indemnity meant for those under 40. This is from the transcript on the PM’s own website:
