Orbost residents will be able to receive community vaccinations to protect them from the coronavirus from Saturday.
Following a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) with Gippsland Public Health Unit, Orbost Regional Health (ORH) chief executive officer, Vicki Farthing, said AstraZeneca vaccinations could commence on Saturday.
Those wishing to get the jab between 9.30am to 4pm will need to book via the central booking number – 1800 675 398.
Residents of Orbost had earlier raised concerns about not being able to get a vaccination for the coronavirus in the township.
Ms Farthing, told the Snowy River Mail on Monday that ORH “had not been able to provide vaccine to our community.”
Ms Farthing said the issue was related to ORH’s medical clinic being attached to a public service and “was therefore not eligible under the Commonwealth program to receive vaccines through the Gippsland Primary Health Network”.
Instead ORH had been undertaking a process of setting up a vaccination clinic through the Gippsland Public Health Unit at Latrobe Regional Hospital in Traralgon.
“It is not a simple process to set up, certainly not as easy as the fluvax clinics,” Ms Farthing said on Monday, thanking residents for their patience.
Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester, said his office had also been contacted by people expressing concerns about the lack of easy access to the vaccine.
“As a result, I have written directly to the State and Federal health ministers seeking their co-operation to work together and improve access for people in remote areas of East Gippsland,” Mr Chester said in a statement to the Snowy River Mail at the beginning of the week.
“East Gippsland has a large number of older residents, or people on low incomes, who are concerned with the cost of travel and the inconvenience in driving large distances to access the vaccine.
