Australia's Covid-19 vaccination campaign is behind schedule.
Faced with criticism from the opposition, Prime Minister Scott Morrison blamed it on Wednesday on problems with the delivery of vaccines by the European Union (EU).
Conservative leader cited vaccine shortage and EU "strict export controls" to explain why his country only received 700,000 doses of an order of 3.8 million vials of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
READ ALSO>
Covid-19: the events of the day live
The Australian government had initially committed to administering four million doses by the end of March.
But, on Wednesday, the total vaccine injected was only 920,000, earning Scott Morrison criticism he tried to answer at a hastily-organized press conference.
"3.1 million vaccines have not reached Australia," he said.
“There is no argument, conflict, quarrel or clash.
It is a simple observation.
"
"The government must move"
Australia, he explained, has received 870,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine which are being administered to frontline workers.
The authorities rely mainly on imports of AstraZeneca vaccines and locally manufactured doses to treat their population.
But a controversy arose in early March when Italy announced that it had blocked the export to Australia of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, arguing a "persistent shortage" and "supply delays" on its soil.
Some are worried that the slowness of vaccination in Australia favors the appearance of new sources of contamination and indefinitely delays the reopening of borders.
Several months ago, Scott Morrison said Australia would be "at the front of the line" to get the vaccines, after agreements reached with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
“Scott Morrison has to stop pretending there is no rush.
Vaccination is our ticket to a return to normalcy, ”said Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese.
“The government must act.
Populated by 25 million people, Australia has been relatively successful in containing the disease.
It has totaled at this stage, since the start of the pandemic, around 30,000 cases of Covid-19.
