New figures show one in four COVID-19 vaccines available in Australia have not been administered, with GP clinics and every state and territory under-utilising their allocated supply.
As Australia hit a new milestone on Monday, with 3.1 million doses administered nationwide, the Health Department revealed just 75 per cent of the vaccines distributed had actually been put into people’s arms.
That means 1.5 million doses have been delivered but not yet administered.
Tasmania had the highest utilisation rate at 90 per cent, while the Northern Territory was the worst performing jurisdiction with a 58 per cent utilisation rate.
The most populous state, New South Wales, had administered 280,135 vaccines as of May 9, which was about 78 per cent of the doses delivered to the state.
The “utilisation rate” takes into account the small percentage that may be wasted at clinics.
Navy Commodore Eric Young, who was recruited to lead the logistics of the vaccine rollout, said utilisation rates fell when the safety advice about the AstraZeneca jab changed, prompting a “recalibration”.
He said both utilisation and vaccination rates were starting to pick up again.
“An analysis of the data shows a significant increase in the rate of vaccinations with our weekday average, now up an additional 5,000 from the previous week to now more than 78,000 doses per weekday,” he said.
“So despite a significant recalibration of the program, we’ve continued to build capacity and we’ve continued to increase the rate of vaccinations.”
Commodore Young said 436,000 doses were administered last week, including a record 83,495 last Thursday.
GP clinics had administered 1.7 million vaccines across the country, as at May 9, from an available 2.6 million doses.
The figures showed the 305,000 doses delivered to aged and disability care homes had been “fully utilised”.
The information comes as nearly 110,000 people aged between 40 and 49 have registered in NSW to receive the Pfizer vaccine under a move by the state government to make sure any extra or unexpected doses do not go to waste.
So far, 9,000 appointments have been booked, and some people have already received their first jab.
Similarly, thousands of frontline and disability service workers and carers who are also under 50 are now able to access the Pfizer vaccine in Victoria.