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PM declares 2021 'Year of the Vaccine' - but professor doubts we'll get rollout right

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 21 Jan 2021, 7:52PM
(Photo / AP)
(Photo / AP)

PM declares 2021 'Year of the Vaccine' - but professor doubts we'll get rollout right

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 21 Jan 2021, 7:52PM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced this year will be the year of the vaccine.

Speaking at Labour’s first caucus meeting in Nelson, Ardern says getting people vaccinated will take time, and won’t happen all at once.

She also warned that we won't just see Covid-19 disappear and our goal would have to be that we manage Covid-19 much like we manage the flu.

However, Auckland University professor of medicine Des Gorman told Heather du Plessis-Allan he is worried about this rollout.

He says that there were enough issues with the flu vaccine rollout last year, that he has doubts that the Government can competently deliver the various vaccines that all require different methods of storage and delivery. 

"This is a huge logistical challenge, and what we've seen in the last year is an inability to deliver on simple logistics."

Gorman says that the hesitancy in getting the rollout right is one reason why the country could be waiting for a vaccine. 

And while Covid-19 could evolve in a way that it could become less deadly over time, Gorman criticised the Prime Minister for comparing Covid-19 to the flu. 

"This is a very nasty bug that makes people very, very sick. I don't think you can say you can tolerate it in the community." 

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