Warrigal CEO Mark Sewell joined two of the biggest aged care advocates in the country in backing moves to make vaccines mandatory for aged care workers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the blame aged care workers have received from some quarters for not getting vaccinated fast enough did not sit well with Mr Sewell.
"To even suggest aged care workers are to blame and didn't want to get vaccinated is ludicrous," he said.
"They're frontline salt of the earth carers. They deserve urgent protection and assistance, not hurdles and definitely not blame.
"I think it is great that finally aged care staff are getting attention and are in the priority group that they deserve to be."
But Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) stressed the most important thing for wide take-up of vaccines was to make it easier for workers to get it.
This view was backed by Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), with the self-proclaimed voice of aged care, adding that the decision to make vaccination of aged care workers mandatory reinforced the need to ensure doses were readily available and staff were supported to be vaccinated.
Mr Sewell agreed with both groups, adding an assistance package was needed to meet government targets of vaccinating all aged care workers.
"The slow take-up of aged care staff with the vaccine is not because they didn't want it, it's because of supply issues and a very complicated process to get vaccinated.
"That needs improving before this target is going to be met, that's for sure," he said.
Mr Sewell said the government also had to revert to sending out vaccination teams to each workplace in the country.
"That is the way residents were vaccinated several months ago. We have 90 per cent of residents in aged care homes who were vaccinated because the federal government engaged teams that went to every home in Australia and vaccinated them in situ," he said.
"Staff were supposed to get the same. I don't really know why they didn't. They've been sent off to various places to get vaccinated as they can but that's not worked so the only way to get this target done is to have vaccination teams arrive in every aged care home in Australia."
With both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine to be more readily available in the coming weeks, Mr Sewell added the government had the contractors, Army and GP's at its disposal to vaccinate all aged care workers "fairly quickly".
IRT Group CEO Patrick Reid said he supported the government's decision to make the vaccine mandatory for aged care employees.
"The COVID-19 vaccine is our best first line of defence to protect aged care residents and employees against this deadly disease. I look forward to examining the detail of the program when it's available," Mr Reid said.
Not all supported making vaccines mandatory, with the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) criticising the decision to make COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for the aged care workforce, given the Federal Government's poor management of the rollout to date.
NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes, said the shift to mandatory vaccinations for residential aged care workers after months of inconsistencies, was another example of the government's inability to properly support the sector.
"The Commonwealth failed the aged care workforce back when it chose to only deliver vaccinations to residents in residential aged care facilities, leaving staff to fend for themselves," said Mr Holmes.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.