The first recipients

THIS is a historic day for Australia.

I am supremely confident in the expert process that has led us to this day.

I said at the outset we were going to make our Australian way through this pandemic.

And the Australian way has proved to be, when you look around the world, one of the most effective there is.

And the reason for that, in my view, has consistently been the strength and resilience of the Australian people. It has been the response and the responsibility of Australians, each and every day through this pandemic, that has seen our Australian way through.

And I say to my fellow Australians: now the next step of that journey begins.

And so I call on my fellow Australians (to be vaccinated) as I have, by my own example, today.

Joined by the chief nurse, and the chief medical officer of our country, together with those Australians who are in the top priority of this vaccination program, to say to you, Australia, it’s safe. It’s important.

Join us on this Australian path that sees us come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every day that goes past from here gets more normal. Every day. And that’s what we’ve started today.

And that’s what’s exciting about today. The exact path will, in many ways, illuminate itself as we work through these issues. But the thing I’m most pleased about is that I now know that as this vaccination rolls out, the serious disease and the sort of widespread fatalities that we saw overseas, because of this vaccination, we move further away from that every single day.

That’s a massive change. Today is the beginning of a big game changer.

THE PRIME MINISTER’S REMARKS ON SUNDAY.