Hunt hopes wider Moderna availability soon
A scheme protecting health professionals giving coronavirus jabs and compensating Australians who suffer a serious side effect from them has been unveiled by the federal government.
The no-fault compensation scheme was outlined by Health Minister Greg Hunt on Saturday, as the federal government faces calls to fund extended opening hours for GPs to deliver more doses.
Health professionals who administer COVID jabs will be afforded legal protection under the COVID-19 Vaccine Claim Scheme, which will also provide impacted Australians "a simple and quick" access to compensation, Mr Hunt said.
The scheme will be administered by Services Australia, with Australians who suffer injury and loss of income due to a COVID-19 shot able to register their intent to claim from September 6.
It will cover the costs of injuries above $5000 due to a proven adverse reaction.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Australian Retail Association, among others, welcomed the indemnity provisions.
RACGP president Karen Price said the scheme would give peace of mind and protection to GPs, "the backbone of the vaccine rollout" who had delivered over half of all vaccinations across Australia.
It came as Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley called for the federal government to help enable GPs to ramp up the number of patients they vaccinate even further.
A trials at a handful of Melbourne clinics showed GPs have the capacity to deliver more jabs, if they're made available and opening hours are extended.
He wants the Commonwealth to pay for clinics to be open later and on weekends, to help meet demand, particularly as those eligible for vaccination expands to teenagers.
"We are demonstrating, because someone has to, that the GPs can do more," he said.
A third of Australian adults are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19, with children next on the list.
Vaccine bookings for those aged 12 to 15 to open from September 13.
Meanwhile, NSW have recorded another record day of new COVID-19 cases, with 1035 reported on Saturday.
Victoria also reported another 64 cases, while the ACT notched up another 26.
After an exposure scare involving two truck drivers from NSW, WA recorded no new local cases, as did the remaining states and territory.
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