Store owner rips Scott Morrison to shreds over lockdown debacle
A store owner has slammed Scott Morrison in a brutal letter, blaming him for the current lockdown.
“Dear Customers, we will be closed for the foreseeable future because Scott Morrison is a useless d***head who only ordered enough vaccine to vaccinate 4 per cent of the population 18 months into a pandemic,” the sign read in the window of the Roulette store and art studio in Annandale.
Artist James Powditch displayed the sign on Saturday, after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed that there would be a two-week lockdown of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong.
Image: Supplied
NSW recorded 18 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 130.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has now spread to other states and territories, sparking a major crisis as restrictions, border closures and lockdowns have been implemented once again.
Australia’s less than impressive vaccination rollout has partly contributed to the worrying situation, experts have claimed.
Across the nation, less than one-third of adults have received even one dose of a vaccine, and just 6 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
Experts say people who have received two doses of a vaccine are less likely to be hospitalised or die from the Delta variant than those who have received only one.
“We can’t leave the country, people can’t come in, and we end up periodically in lockdowns, which cost a friggin’ fortune,” Mr Powditch told CNN.
“People have been accepting that this is a diabolically difficult situation, but once we start watching the rest of the world open up, we’re going to turn to anger over the way things like vaccines have been rolled out here.”
The PM has announced they will be accelerating the vaccine rollout by opening up the AstraZeneca vaccine to under-60s.
Mr Morrison said in a method to speed up the rollout, GPs would be covered by a no-fault indemnity scheme in the event of the extremely rare blood clot risk.
The clotting disorder is called vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopaenia (VITT) or thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
Out of 2.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, only 24 cases of TTS have been reported.
“The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advice talks about a preference for AstraZeneca ... for those over 60, but the advice does not preclude persons under 60 from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Mr Morrison said.
“And so if you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, then we would encourage you to go and have that discussion with your GP. Secondly, we are also providing the indemnity scheme for those general practitioners, so they can actively engage with you, and you can make the best decision for your health.”
Mr Morrison said people under 40 can now go to their GP and get the AstraZeneca vaccine immediately.
“To get access to AstraZeneca, if they’re willing to take on that risk, if they wish to go and speak to their job or their doctor and have access to the AstraZeneca vaccine, they can do so,” he said.