Shot in arm for vaccine rollout in Katanning
With Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout entering Phase 1B, a vaccine clinic has been established in Katanning to broaden the region’s vaccine response.
The first general practice clinic in the region outside of Albany, St Luke’s Family Practice launched its vaccine program last Tuesday.
Three more GP-based vaccine clinics have been established in Albany, taking the region’s total clinic numbers to five, alongside one WA Country Health Service clinic already operating at Albany Health Campus.
They are among 1000 locations announced across Australia in Phase 1B, with clinic numbers expected to increase to 4000 in the next month.
Phase 1B includes the elderly, healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over 55, adults with an underlying medical condition, and critical and high-risk workers such as police and emergency services.
St Luke’s Family Practice’s Nicholas Dupreez said the clinic was allocated 80 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the first week, then 100 for this week.
“After that, we will have to see how many they give us,” Dr Dupreez said. “COVID-19 goes everywhere, not just necessarily to the big cities, so if you want to protect people, you need to give it to everybody, not just the city.”
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