TWO new health services in Mildura have been approved to deliver the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine under a Federal Government rollout.
Lime Medical Clinic and Tristar Medical Group, which runs three clinics in Mildura and Red Cliffs, have been approved to offer the vaccine from July as part of a rollout to 1350 practices nationwide.
The clinics will add to the Pfizer rollout in the region, which began last week through Sunraysia Community Health Services (SCHS) and Mallee District Aboriginal Services.
Dr John Dyson-Berry, of Lime Medical Clinic, said he expected the workload at his practice would become “more intense” when the clinic moved from delivering AstraZeneca jabs three days per week to offering both Pfizer and AstraZeneca from July 5.
But he hoped the clinic, which will start taking Pfizer bookings from June 28, would help “take the pressure off” existing services, which were facing high demand.
Other clinics, including Ontario Medical Clinic, were still waiting on Friday to find out from the Health Department whether they had been approved to deliver Pfizer.
Ontario Medical Clinic practice manager Kellyann Wilton said the clinic was “ready to go”, with trained staff and a separate area set aside in the clinic to deliver the vaccine.
“We have had no real indication on when we will be approved,” she said. “We could be onboarded anytime between now and October.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said “participating practices not commencing in July are expected to progressively transition and begin vaccinating with Pfizer as supplies increase”.
Sunraysia clinics have been approved to deliver between 150 and 300 jabs per week.
This week some clinics were still waiting to hear how many vaccines they had been approved to deliver.
Tristar Medical Clinic asked that eligible patients wait until after July 5 to book Pfizer vaccine appointments as the clinic was still waiting to confirm numbers.
People eligible for Pfizer, who include those aged 40 to 59, have already begun to book in for jabs, with 1600 people on the SCHS waiting list last week.
About nine clinics in Mildura are already delivering AstraZeneca doses to eligible people over 60.
Ms Wilton said Ontario Medical Clinic was booked to deliver its full quota of 400 AstraZeneca jabs per week over the next few weeks and was still taking bookings.
Dr Dyson-Berry said Lime Medical Clinic was booked out for AstraZeneca jabs until October.
Two other clinics that had previously offered AstraZeneca jabs told Sunraysia Daily they were no longer offering AstraZeneca due to staffing and logistical issues.
In an announcement this week, COVID-19 taskforce commander Lieutenant General John Frewen said the AstraZeneca vaccine would be phased out from October, except by request, as most Australians over the age of 60 were expected to be vaccinated by then.
According to Commonwealth modelling, in July and August GPs and state clinics will receive up to 750,000 doses of Pfizer and 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca a week.
Pfizer doses will increase in September, when 1.2 million AstraZeneca, 1.3 million Pfizer and 125,000 Moderna doses are set to be distributed.
To check eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine rollout, visit www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-checker.
