CORONAVIRUS —
VACCINATIONS — ELIGIBILITY
545. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment to getting as many
eligible Western Australians vaccinated as quickly as possible. Can the
minister update the house on changes to eligibility for the vaccine, as well as
the rollout of vaccinations in regional and remote parts of the state?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I would like to thank the member for
the question and I thank her for her support for health initiatives everywhere,
but in particular the vaccination program. We have been saying that we want
everyone to roll up for WA. People should get themselves vaccinated against
COVID-19 because that is the only way we are ever going to be able to get out
of the global pandemic. The Premier and I made an announcement earlier this
week that people over the age of 60 will be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine
from Monday. I am very pleased to say that because we are now confident of our
Pfizer supplies, we will make Pfizer available first thing tomorrow morning to
everyone over the age of 12 years, bringing forward the eligibility for the
60-plus age group. We are making more slots available and our clinics are ready
to roll, whether people go to the Claremont, Joondalup or Midland clinics, plus
we have more slots becoming available in
Kwinana and the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. More than 50 000
appointments will be available in the next six weeks.
We
are urging everyone to roll up for WA and make sure that they get their
vaccine. They are eligible for any of the vaccines if they are aged over 12. For those who were part of the
previous Pfizer eligibility, the good news—I hear this from
the member for Riverton—is that Pfizer is starting to roll out to the
GP clinics, and will be available from Monday. But people in the 60-plus category who want the Pfizer vaccine will have
to go to one of the state vaccination centres.
In addition, we are putting effort into our regional and
remote communities. Tomorrow, I will travel to Tom Price to visit the new
COVID-19 vaccination clinic that has been set up to boost the vaccination rates
in the Pilbara. The Tom Price clinic, along with another in Paraburdoo, is part
of a joint effort by the McGowan government, the WA Country Health Service, Rio
Tinto and the Shire of Ashburton. It does not matter if all the mineworkers can
be vaccinated if the communities in which
they operate are not vaccinated. We would like to thank Rio Tinto for its
efforts to look after not only its workforce, but also the communities in which
it operates. We are having conversations with other large mining companies
about how we can continue to roll out this program in other parts of Western Australia.
People
can book their appointments on rollup.wa.gov.au and walk-ins are also welcome.
The Tom Price community vaccination clinic will run from 17 September to
21 September at the Tom Price Community Resource Centre at Central Road, which
will be open from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm, and the Paraburdoo clinic will open on 23
September at the Ashburton Hall in Ashburton Avenue. I would like to remind
everyone that although we are very lucky in Western Australia and have no COVID
in our community at the moment, I do not want people to be complacent. New South Wales has seen more than 40 000 cases of
COVID-19 and, tragically, 200 deaths. That is our future if we do not
choose to vaccinate now. It is important that people roll up for WA. We want
people to protect themselves, their family and their communities. As I said
today: do not procrastinate, just vaccinate. Get yourself vaccinated. Roll up
for WA and protect everyone in the community.