Premier’s ‘complete confidence’ – no link between vaccine and death of woman, 82
The Queensland premier says she has full confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout after an elderly woman with a pre-existing medical condition died hours after receiving the Pfizer jab.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she has 'complete confidence' in the safety of vaccines. (AAP Image/Darren England)
It is understood the 82-year-old received a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Springwood Yurana Aged Care Facility on Wednesday, before dying in the afternoon.
National Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said “at this stage there are no signs of any causal link”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she still has confidence in the vaccine drive but a Therapeutic Goods Administration probe into the woman’s death is needed.
“Everyone has confidence in the vaccine rollout because we need to make sure that people get vaccinated,” she told Nine’s Today program on Thursday.
“We have been in this pandemic and people want to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Palaszczuk said she expected a briefing from the prime minister at a national cabinet on Friday.
She said the probe was important given concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A small number of people in Europe and the United Kingdom have presented with the blood clotting disorder but a causal link with the AstraZeneca vaccine is yet to be established.
“These are real issues and concerns coming out of Europe, and I need to make sure that our health authorities here are having a very close look at it and I have every confidence the prime minister will look at these issues very closely,” the premier said.
Professor Kelly also played down any link between the death of the woman, who reportedly had a lung condition, and her vaccination.
“It can be expected that older and more frail people in an aged care setting may pass away due to progression of underlying disease or natural causes, this does not mean the vaccine has contributed to this,” he said.
The women’s death comes as authorities investigate whether a Victorian man’s rare blood clotting disorder was caused by his AstraZeneca jab.
The man received the vaccine on March 22.
Meanwhile, Palaszczuk says she’s is open to setting up a mass vaccination site in Queensland, but vaccine supplies from the federal government are too unpredictable for it to work.
Her preference at the moment was for GPs and pharmacies to handle the rollout.
“We will look at all of these options leading to the vaccine rollout but, of course it does depend on the supply,” Palaszczuk said.
The premier said if the federal government published daily statistics on vaccine supplies it would help planning and logistics for the rollout in Queensland.
