Today during Question Time, I asked the Prime Minister why he had left pregnant women so vulnerable, after tragic reports that an unvaccinated pregnant woman from Newcastle is in intensive care with COVID-19, fighting for her and her baby’s life.

I’m heartbroken by the number of pregnant women who have contacted my office frustrated and anxious because they can’t get their vaccine appointment for months, sometimes not until after their due date.

It’s not like the Prime Minister hasn’t known about this issue – Labor has been raising this matter for some time now.

Now we have a pregnant woman who’s fighting for her life in hospital because she couldn’t get a vaccine.

On the 9th of June 2021, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), in conjunction with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, issued a statement that recommended pregnant women be routinely offered Pfizer vaccines at any stage of pregnancy.

Yet there are so many women who cannot secure a vaccine.  Some are on waitlists at multiple GP clinics and have been denied access to vaccines at walk-in clinics.

These women are all desperately trying to the right thing to get vaccinated, but they can’t.

It’s completely unacceptable that this enormous stress is being placed upon pregnant women at a time when they should expect our support.

But we can’t forget that this wouldn’t have been an issue if the Prime Minister had done his job in the first place.

Pregnant women are waiting far too long for their vaccine appointment all because the Prime Minister failed to do his job and secure enough vaccines.

This issue need to be fixed by the Morrison Government immediately.