NSW Health is to establish two new mass vaccination centres and a large clinic in the heart of Sydney’s CBD in preparation for a larger supply of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.
Premier, Gladys Berejiklian said NSW Health would also launch a pilot program later this month which would see 22 pharmacies across rural and regional NSW begin administering the AstraZeneca jab to people over 60 years of age.
Ms Berejiklian said the new vaccination sites and pilot program would boost NSW’s contribution to the Federal Government’s vaccine rollout.
“The new sites add to the 100 NSW Health vaccination clinics and outreach locations across the State,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“The NSW Health vaccination sites complement the GP Network, which has and will continue to deliver the majority of COVID-19 vaccines across NSW,” she said.
“In NSW we have a sense of urgency about getting jabs in arms, because once the vast majority of our population is vaccinated, we can start a conversation about reaching a ‘COVID-normal’ state.”
Ms Berejiklian said one of the new mass vaccination centres would be in Macquarie Fields, in South West Sydney and the other would be in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region.
The Premier said the Sydney CBD vaccination hub would be close to light and heavy rail lines and would serve city workers and residents through extended opening hours.
Ms Berejiklian said the pharmacies set to participate in the vaccine pilot program were located in areas where access to a GP or vaccine clinic was more limited due to geography.
“We know that some of these communities have limited local access to general practitioner services and having these pharmacies involved will assist with the phased rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine to these communities,” she said.
Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard said the rapid development of sites was a credit to the hard work of local staff in health districts across the State.
Further information on COVID-19 vaccination can be accessed on NSW Health’s website at this PS News link.
