A SMALL-SCALE COVID-19 vaccination hub has been established in Wangaratta and appointments can be made from today.
Northeast Health Wangaratta (NHW) established the hub, which is adjacent to the community care clinic in Clark Street at the rear of the hospital.
Eligible residents can book by calling the State Government Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.
Vaccinations are by appointment only, with no walk-ins.
Booking numbers are limited and community members are asked to be patient.
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A staff vaccination hub has been operating on site at NHW for just over a month, with healthcare workers, emergency service workers and other eligible groups receiving either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine.
By the end of Monday some 1591 COVID-19 vaccines had been administered at the hub.
NHW interim chief executive officer Fiona Shanks said the hub would continue to grow and evolve.
“To begin with this will be a small scale community vaccination hub, with very limited bookings,” she told the Wangaratta Chronicle yesterday.
“We encourage anyone eligible to make a booking and to also be patient.
"If you can’t get through the first time, rest assured, our capacity is only going to grow into the future.
“Please do not contact the hospital directly with enquiries about the COVID-19 vaccine as reception staff are focused on assisting patients and their families through the current restrictions.”
Other vaccination options in the region include the Wodonga vaccination hub, as well as a number of Wangaratta GP clinics.
Victorian health officer Jeroen Weimar at yesterday's daily press conference said vaccination is "our only way out of this".
"We now have 40 clinics set up to do vaccinations across the state, we have the largest state clinic vaccination program anywhere in Australia," Mr Weimar said.
"Queues are running at about two to three hours at some of our busier sites and anyone who wants to have access to Pfizer if you're 40-49 years old, contact a call centre and please be patient and willing to try a number of times.
"If you're over 50 years old you can go through the booking centre where you will be given the AstraZeneca vaccine."
Mr Weimar said staff in testing clinics or vaccination centres are all working 12 hours a day, if not more, so "please be patient and kind".
Health Minister Martin Foley said from today until Sunday, June 6 workers in private aged care facilities and the residential disability sector, which are all managed by the Commonwealth, will be given priority access to walk-in vaccination hubs between 9am and 4pm when they present evidence of their employment.
Shepparton Showgrounds and the Wodonga Vaccination Hub are both priority centres for these industry workers in the region.
Meanwhile, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton could not rule out a return of the "ring of steel" being installed.
The ring of steel is a series of road border checkpoints manned by Victorian Police and the Australian Army that stood for weeks last year as the regions recovered from the second wave quicker than Melbourne.
