Guardian May 18, 2021

Good morning! What is it going to take to get Australians to roll up their sleeves and get a Covid jab? A firm date for reopening international borders might do the trick, as there finally appears to be plenty of the vaccinations in some areas, just a short supply of patients.

A nurse who administered just one vaccine in an eight-hour shift at one of Victoria’s mass vaccination hubs says she is “furious” at the “snail’s pace” of the rollout. The nurse said there were plenty of shots but people were not showing up to get them. “It’s slow, it’s frustrating for the nurses, and it’s concerning that Australia seems to take this attitude of ‘let’s just shut the borders for as long as possible’ while there is vaccine just sitting there.” Scott Morrison is facing mounting pressure to put a date on reopening the international borders and to accept that the health system will need to cope with new variants of the virus. The head of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, said a set date might encourage people to get the jab.

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