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Australia’s slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has cost the country at least $20 billion as strict lockdowns and other restrictions have been unnecessarily prolonged, a government-backed study said on Tuesday. I came to a conclusion.
A 12-month review found Australia initially lacked urgency in distributing coronavirus vaccines, with then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison at one point declaring the rollout was “not a race”.
Australia has imposed some of the world’s toughest restrictions during the pandemic, effectively shutting its borders for two years and locking down major cities for months on end.
Delays in vaccinations will result in many cities reopening “months later” than originally planned, with “direct economic costs” of at least $20 billion (A$31 billion), according to the report. It is estimated that it will rise to .
“These procurement delays ultimately affected the timing of the vaccine rollout and extended the restrictive public health measures that had been in place for more than a year by then,” the report said. concluded.
Australia’s response to the coronavirus outbreak was largely successful, but research found restrictions and other missteps fueled mistrust of scientists and public health officials.
In one notable lapse, an earlier investigation found that thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark from the cruise ship before their COVID-19 test results were available.
Australia is set to establish a new Center for Disease Control to better plan for future pandemics, a key recommendation of the inquiry.
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