Pop-up clinics aimed at a booster boost

Loddon Mallee director of health Bruce Bolam is urging Mildura residents to get their jabs following the summer spike of cases and COVID-related deaths in Mildura.

The clinics will include a Bunnings pop-up clinic next week.

Dr Bolam said that while Mildura had good vaccination uptake numbers, the rate was still significantly behind other parts of the Loddon Mallee area.

He said locals should still get vaccinated to protect themselves and others.

“There is a significant number of people hospitalised and sadly, deaths,” he said.

“We have seen the largest spike in deaths in the state, in the region and in Mildura, coming through this Omicron wave, starting from the end of December coming into January and February.

“It is certainly far from the case that this wave is over or that we are fully safe.”

Dr Bolam said vaccination rates in Mildura were significantly lower than the rest of the region and urged people to go and get the jab if they hadn’t already.

“We have an excellent rate of third-dose booster uptake among the over-60s, which stands at over 81 per cent,” he said.

“But it then declines in the 18 to 59-year-olds, approaching 53 per cent, and while these are fantastic statistics and not far off the state average in most instances, they are sadly much lower than what we are seeing in the rest of the Loddon Mallee, which is on average about 10 percentage points higher.

“In the best performing areas of the Loddon Mallee region, we see rates very significantly higher than that, even 20 percentage points higher.”

Dr Bolam said to help bring numbers up, pop-up vaccination clinics were going to operate around Mildura.

“We are planning with a range of local partners pop-up clinics, which will be just walk-up to get yourself and your children vaccinated,” he said.

He said these would include a vaccination clinic at the East End Community House, weekend clinics at Sunraysia Community Health Services and a clinic at Mildura’s Bunnings Warehouse.

Dr Bolam said he urged locals to also get their flu jabs heading into winter.

“With people moving around more and coming into contact with each other more and with international borders opening, we are likely to see an increased risk of transmission of many communicable diseases and, particularly as we come into the winter period, influenza,” he said.

“Potentially it could be a very severe influenza season this next year because, much like COVID, influenza does evolve year on year and because we have had a couple of years with low caseloads there is a potential for us to have a very significant influenza wave this winter.

“Obviously we want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated for not just COVID but influenza, when that becomes available, as we move through the coming months.”