HEALTH and community leaders have issued a call to arms for Sunraysia residents to get their COVID-19 jabs.
The bosses of Mildura Base Public Hospital, Sunraysia Community Health Services and Mallee District Aboriginal Services, as well as Mildura Rural City Council and Sunraysia Daily are all vaccinated – and they reckon you should be, too.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last month that when 70 per cent of people in Australia and individual states were fully vaccinated there would be fewer lockdowns and restrictions would ease for vaccinated people.
When 80 per cent are fully vaccinated, international travel will open up, vaccinated people will be exempt from all domestic restrictions, and statewide lockdowns will become a thing of the past.
"It is a race and the sooner we get there, the sooner we get some of our freedoms back," Elliott Newspaper Group managing director Ross Lanyon said.
"Let's be the best region in Victoria, let's be the frontrunners, let's show the way."
But MBPH chief executive Terry Welch said if travel incentives weren't enough to get people over the line to get their jab, they should look closer to home.
"It's about getting to that metric to open up, yes, but it's also getting to the metrics so the community can be safe," he said.
"You can think about it as I'm doing it for my family, or I'm doing it for close friends, or I'm doing it for the vulnerable because what we see at the hospital every day is the vulnerable … and it's those people we need to protect."
MDAS chief executive Jacki Turfrey backed Mr Welch's call to do it for the community as Sunraysia stares down the barrel of another potential outbreak.
"It's not just about you personally but it's about community, it's about your mob and your family," she said.
MDAS and SCHS are inviting locals – of all ages – to come and get their Pfizer or AstraZeneca injections at their vaccine hubs.
"We're not differentiating between whether you're younger or whether you're older … we'll make sure that when your turn comes up you get vaccinated," SCHS boss Simone Heald said, while MRCC interim chief executive Martin Hawson encouraged people to "get on that list".
"Do everything that you can to get vaccinated because, really, that's the long-term solution," he said.
MRCC and Sunraysia Daily are among a growing number of Sunraysia employers offering workers paid time off to get vaccinated, a move Mr Lanyon encouraged fellow business owners to jump on board with.
"That's something most businesses are doing, but I think it's important we encourage all businesses to let their people have some time off to get their vaccination."
To check your vaccine eligibility or find a vaccine provider near you, visit covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility
