Dangerous times for elected leaders 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has taken temporary charge of the Health portfolio while Minister Greg Hunt battles an infection. At the same time, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is in hospital with spinal injuries after a serious fall.

Mr Hunt was admitted to hospital on Tuesday with a cellulitis infection in his leg, and is expected to be off work for a fortnight.  

His illness came just days after his COVID-19 vaccine jab, but the two are unlikely to be linked, Dr Khorshid said.  

"We can say fairly definitively that cellulitis, which is a skin infection of - in this case - his leg, is not going to have anything to do with the vaccination in the arm a couple of days earlier," Dr Khorshid told Sky News.  

“Some people might jump on it, but Australians can be reassured that this vaccination program, this huge national health effort, is very, very safe, and it’s the best decision that you can possibly make for your long-term health during this pandemic.”  

Mr Andrews was also hospitalised on Tuesday after slipping and falling on wet stairs, breaking several ribs and fracturing his T7 vertebra.  

Dr Khorshid, an orthopaedic surgeon, said he had no first-hand information on the Premier's injuries, but his recovery period would depend on whether or not any complications arose.  

"It wouldn't be uncommon for someone with that level of injury to be off work for weeks or even months after the injury," Dr Khorshid told ABC Radio Melbourne.  

"But he's in in the best of hands being at the trauma unit at The Alfred hospital."  

The AMA sends its best wishes to both Mr Hunt and Mr Andrews.