Parliamentary Questions & Answers

Question On Notice No. 286 asked in the Legislative Council on 9 September 2021 by Hon Martin Aldridge

Question Directed to the: Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 832- View tabled paper

Question

I refer to the State Government's policy for mandatory vaccinations for all health care workers, commencing from 1 October 2021, and question without notice 536, asked on 18 August 2021, and the response by the Minister to Part 3, stating "Healthcare workers across WA have been provided access to COVID-19 vaccinations through their workplaces and can walk into any state-run clinic at any time and be vaccinated," and I ask:

(a) is it correct that healthcare workers are able to present at state-run vaccination clinics without a booking and receive a vaccination against COVID-19;

(b) is the State Government considering any exemptions for regional health care workers unable to access COVID-19 vaccinations prior to the deadline for mandatory vaccinations;

(i) the number of and locations of any state-run COVID-19 vaccination clinics;

(ii) the number of and locations of State-run COVID-19 testing clinics;

(iii) the number of, and locations of, any tier one health care facilities which health care staff and health support workers will require a full COVID-19 vaccination to enter from 1 November 2021;

(iv) the number of, and locations of, any tier two health care facilities which health care staff and health support workers will require a full COVID-19 vaccination to enter from 1 December 2021; and

(v) the number of, and locations of, any tier three health care facilities health care staff and health support workers will require a full COVID-19 vaccination to enter from 1 January 2022; and

(d) noting the Commonwealth Government's Residential Aged Care COVID-19 Employee Vaccination Support Grant, which provides an $80 payment for casual aged care staff required to go off-site to receive a vaccination; paid leave of up to $185 for casual staff who become unwell after a vaccination; and grants of up to $500 to facilitate off-site vaccination for employees to cover transport costs and other reasonable expenses when getting vaccinated, will the State Government implement any similar measures to encourage vaccination and, if so, please provide detail?

Answered on 28 October 2021

I am advised:

(a) Yes.

(b) Temporary exemptions will be considered in the case of any health worker who is unable to access vaccination.

(c) (i) There are 54 separate locations for WA Country Health Service (WACHS) COVID vaccine clinics scheduled for the next four weeks. This includes 47 regularly scheduled clinics and 18 whole of community mass vaccination clinics planned in October 2021. Please see tabled paper no.

(c) (ii) There are 3 regional state-run COVID-19 testing clinics and 66 regional hospitals where testing is available. Please see tabled paper no.

(c) (iii) In addition to the COVID-19 vaccination clinics listed above there are a total of 33 designated Tier 1 locations across 17 separate WACHS sites. Please see tabled paper no.

(d) Any health worker in Western Australia can attend any of the 100 State-run COVID-19 vaccination clinic at any time to be vaccinated as a priority ‘walk-in’. This includes non-frontline staff. Some agencies may be supportive of their employees being vaccinated during work hours, and this is encouraged where possible, in line with the operational needs of the workplace.