Page 2126 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022
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Mr Assistant Speaker, ATAGI, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, has recently changed its advice on second winter booster doses, and now recommends a second booster for people aged 50 years and older. People aged 30 to 49 years can also now access a second booster dose.
We have seen strong demand for this added level of protection from eligible Canberrans. As of 31 July, 80,862 winter booster doses had been administered to eligible ACT residents. This includes 49.4 per cent of people living in the ACT who are aged 50-years and older. This is a great result, and I thank Canberrans for their continued eagerness to get vaccinated.
However, there is still room for improvement. There are more than 150 pharmacists and general practitioners located in the ACT who are available to provide COVID-19 vaccinations. I strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward to boost their protection, especially those who are more vulnerable to severe illness. Vaccination continues to be the best protection you can offer yourself and our hospital system, as we grapple with our current health challenges.
Mr Assistant Speaker, it is vital that every Canberran has access to COVID-19 vaccinations regardless of their personal circumstances. In support of this, the ACT government’s Equity to Access Program operated from September 2021 to 30 June 2022. The program provided vaccination to communities that experienced barriers to accessing health services and those likely to experience a disproportionate burden of disease.
During its operations the program administered 3,211 doses across 157 home visits, 71 clinics in community in-reach settings and 48 public pop-up vaccination clinics across the ACT. As vaccination rates have increased, demand for this service has declined, making this the appropriate time to wind down this specialist service.
The success of the program was due to an effective partnership with Aspen Medical, who provided a dedicated clinical team prepared to work in a wide range of environments to ensure we reached as many Canberrans as possible. The program also relied heavily on community sector partnerships to provide information about what was happening in their communities and to connect ACT Health with these communities.
I would like to thank the service providers who helped the ACT government to deliver this program including the Ted Noffs Foundation, Meridian ACT, Catholic Care Canberra and Goulburn, Sharing Places, Toora Womens Service, Australian Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul, Federation of Indian Associations, Salvation Army, Canberra Youth Residential Service, CCCares, Focus ACT, Hepatitis ACT, Yeddung Mura Aboriginal Corporation, Directions Health Services, Karinya House, Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, Interchange Health Co-operative and UnitingCare Canberra.
The program also relied on valuable partnerships with Canberra’s specialist schools and the community organisations that hosted pop-up clinics, Turner Scouts and German Play Group, Charnwood Murrungundie Girl Guides, YWCA Canberra, Tuggeranong Link, and Community Services of Gungahlin.
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