The Western NSW Local Health District will start providing COVID-19 vaccinations to its staff from Monday, 22 March rolling out across the region.
“The Australian Government has developed a schedule that will see the most at-risk groups receive the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible,” said Western NSW Local Health District Chief Executive Scott McLachlan.
“Phase 1a includes healthcare workers who work in areas such as emergency departments and intensive care units. It also includes aged care residents, including those living in our Multipurpose Service (MPS) facilities. Phase 1b includes all other healthcare workers.
“For our healthcare workers, we will have fixed clinics in Orange and Dubbo taking bookings from 22 March, with the Bathurst clinic opening the following day.”
Additionally, there will also be two mobile clinics in operation from 22 March that will visit all the smaller health facilities over the coming weeks.
The vaccination requires two injections at least twelve weeks apart, so those clinics will be booking staff in for both their appointments.
“Our clinics will be providing the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Both the current vaccines are very effective, and Oxford/AstraZeneca offers advantages for our District given the challenges of distance,” said Mr. MacLachlan.
“I would encourage people to use the Australian Government’s online eligibility checker to see when and how they can access vaccination.
“This is a really exciting development. Our staff, and our communities have, had been incredible in taking action to minimise the spread of COVID-19, and we all want the vaccination program to be a success,” he said.
“We’re fortunate to have the vaccine available and it will be a relief for our healthcare workers to have this extra layer of protection.”