Access is 'main obstacle' to aged care staff vaccination
The main "blockage" for Woy Woy aged care staff getting vaccinated has been the "very limited access" to the Pfizer vaccine.
Blue Wave Living chief executive Mr Matt Downie said the Pfizer vaccination was preferred in aged care due to the short window of full vaccination - three weeks versus three months for Astra Zeneca.
He said there were extensive waiting times.
"Staff making appointments are being given dates in August for their first vaccination jab."
Mr Downie said: "This is very poor for a group that was supposed to be part of 1A phase of the vaccination roll out .
"We are thankful that recently the NSW government has made a commitment to establish roving vaccination clinics to visit aged care facilities and help address this issue .
"We are hopeful this will get underway very soon, as it will enable better access for our staff to become fully vaccinated .
"This is what we had originally understood was going to happen following the roving clinics vaccinating majority of residents in aged care, but it simply never eventuated .
"Until the recent announcement that it will become compulsory for staff working in aged care, it has been a choice for individuals to make, which combined with a lack of community cases in Australia until recently, has undoubtedly led to some deferring making a decision, despite our promotion of the need."
Mr Downie said: "The only path out of this Covid world is to have most of the Australian population vaccinated .
"That way we can avoid both community lock downs and aged care facility lock downs .
"Sadly, we seem to have been let down in this regard .
"Australia ranks last of all the OECD countries in terms of percentage of the population vaccinated.
"We have only managed to vaccinate 4.7 per cent of our population, while other countries are now pushing past 50 per cent of their population .
"With aged care continuing to be very much on the front line, and at risk of continued Covid outbreaks, I find this situation extraordinarily disappointing.
"As an Australian, I find this statistic quite devastating .
"We have done so well to limit the intrusion of Covid in this country, but have made so little progress towards a path out of the pandemic impact.
"We can only be hopeful that the current outbreak in NSW is short-lived, and we can re-open to visitors very soon."
SOURCE:
Newsletter, 9 Jul 2021
Matt Downie, Blue Wave Living