Mildura gets unlimited Pfizer vaccine to fight NSW case surge

MILDURA will have access to “unlimited Pfizer” coronavirus vaccine from Friday as the region braces for an outbreak of COVID-19.

Mallee District Aboriginal Services (MDAS) chief executive Jacki Turfrey told Sunraysia Daily the organisation had worked with state and federal governments to meet vaccine demand in Sunraysia.

“We’ve been told today that we can put in the order for as much Pfizer as we need, which we’re doing – it should be here by tomorrow,” she said on Thursday.

The news came as Mildura Base Public Hospital chief executive Terry Welch warned “we have to be prepared and be mature enough to think we’re going to get more cases”, in the wake of increasing infections in NSW.

“We’ve got the supply to run as many COVID clinics as we need to actually get anyone and everyone vaccinated,” Ms Turfrey said.

Alongside the huge injection of extra vaccine doses, MDAS will extend its vaccination clinic times, moving from three to five days a week and working through its 900-strong waiting list amid a push to get as many Sunraysia residents vaccinated as possible.

“If our current wait list is any indication … that shows a lot more people are rushing in,” Ms Turfrey said.

“They want to get in and they want to be immunised.”

MDAS is also opening up Pfizer vaccine bookings to teenagers, after being “given the all-clear to administer the vaccine to all ages” by the State Government on Thursday.

“Because we’re allowed to administer to our own community, to children down to the age of 12, they’ve said that if non-Aboriginal community members are coming in with children under the age of 18 … we’re able to do that too,” Ms Turfrey said.

Sunraysia Community Health Services (SCHS) will soon reopen bookings at its Pfizer hub after working through the thousands-strong backlog that caused bookings to be shut off early last month.

“With the help of Bendigo Health … we were able to really knock that list off, so it is open again,” chief executive Simone Heald said.

“We should be ready for Tuesday to go live with the booking system for the public.”

Both Victoria’s north-west and NSW’s Murray regions have experienced almost 8 per cent increases in COVID-19 vaccinations over the past two weeks, but leaders say more jabs must be administered fast.

According to the latest Australian Government data, 27 per cent of north-west Victoria’s population is now fully vaccinated.

The north-west still lagged behind all other regions in the state except Shepparton, with Geelong and Bendigo leading the way at 33.9 and 33 per cent full vaccinations respectively.

Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said the numbers showed Mildura was “moving in the right direction”, but vaccination rates were “not enough”, given the growing coronavirus case numbers in NSW.

“The wave (of coronavirus cases) that has swept … Australia over the last month or so I think has been a real rocket up the Federal Government and efforts are being made to maximise supply.

“It is a race and (vaccination is) the only way we can get out of these unbearable lockdowns, which are crippling us,” she said.

In the Murray region on the NSW side of the border — a statistical area stretching from the South Australian border to Albury — full vaccination rates stand at 24 per cent, up from 16.7 per cent two weeks ago.

Member for Murray Helen Dalton said the numbers were “very encouraging”, but the region had started from a “low base”.

Despite positive coronavirus cases reported in the Western and Far West NSW health districts, Mrs Dalton said there was still “a problem with (vaccine) supply in rural areas”.

“Many people are struggling to get appointments for vaccinations. They’re waiting weeks and weeks.

“We know the NSW Government took vaccines away from regional NSW to give to Sydney. Many people had their appointments cancelled.

“Now, the NSW Government has since said they’d try and source these vaccines back – but we did a survey, and about 70 per cent of people still haven’t had their vaccine appointment rescheduled.

“I’ve had constituents who are trying to book and they’re telling me they can’t get appointments for four to six weeks.”