Budget 2021-2022 - COVID-19 vax roll-out
Date: 12 May 2021
The Budget committed $1.9 billion to the COVID-19 vaccine program, including $35.8 million for a pharmacy program.
Announcing the measure, the Government said that central to the Government’s vaccine program was the distribution and availability of free COVID-19 vaccines to everyone living in Australia who choose to be vaccinated.
The Budget measures include:
- $35.8 million for a temporary community pharmacy program, which will leverage the national network of world class community pharmacies, to administer both vaccine doses to patients throughout Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the national roll-out.
- $510.8 million for a new COVID-19 Vaccines Schedule for State and Territory health systems as part of the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response. This will see the Commonwealth providing a 50 per cent contribution to the agreed price for each vaccination dose delivered by the States and Territories.
- $253.1 million for a specific, temporary COVID-19 vaccination Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item and Practice Incentive Program (PIP) payment to support the vaccination of millions of Australians through more than 6,200 accredited GPs.
- $155.9 million for contractual arrangements to provide Commonwealth vaccine centres (formerly GP-led Respiratory Clinics) with direct funding for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines, which will be equivalent to the relevant MBS and PIP payments for GPs.
The Government is also providing $1.7 million to the national COVID-19 vaccination training program to ensure the health workforce is appropriately and consistently skilled, given the specialised requirements for administering these vaccines.
Additional funding of $233.8 million is also being provided to ensure the safe distribution of vaccine doses around Australia, including cold chain storage and logistics and the supply of necessary consumables.
Contact: The Guild
Phone: 13GUILD
Page last updated on: 15 June 2021