Speaking to the BBC, Turnbull said the country won’t have enough doses of Covid-19 vaccines until October and November to get a "large enough" percentage of the population protected.
"The very reason we are locked down, which is so frustrating when so many other parts of the world are opening up, is simply because our government failed to buy enough vaccines," he added.
"It was a colossal failure. The problem is, you can’t wind the clock back."