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Subscriber only Rural GPs are encouraging everyone to roll up their sleeves and get the free COVID-19 vaccination when it becomes available. News this week that the first shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Australia and the Therapeutic Goods Administration s approval of the Astra Zeneca vaccine has been welcomed by rural doctors. The Rural Doctors Association of Australia president Dr John Hall said they have been monitoring the Government plans closely and have been given repeated assurances that the vaccine will be made available to rural and remote Australians, as each phase of the vaccine roll out occurs.
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Subscriber only Ahead of next week s North Coast COVID-19 vaccine rollout to residents of aged care facilities, health authorities are also working with local general practices to prepare for future stages of the rollout. It is understood aged care facilities at Alstonville and Ballina will be among the first to roll up their sleeves and get the jab - although the names of which facilities has not yet been revealed. While the Australian COVID-19 vaccination program is starting next week, with the first supply of vaccines being distributed as part of Phase 1a, it will be months before everyone in our region will access vaccines.
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UPDATE 3.15PM: Residents in aged care facilities across the state will be the first to receive the COPVID-19 vaccination. Healthy North Coast chief executive, Julie Sturgess, confirmed today that the roll out will begin across the region, including the Northern Rivers, next week. Residents in aged care facilities including some on the Far North Coast, will receive the vaccination, shessaid. This is in line with those who are the most at risk receiving the COVID-19 vaccination first. Ms Sturgess would not be drawn on which aged care facilities were on the list to roll up their sleeves first.
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Subscriber only The horrific challenges facing Northern Rivers health workers have been highlighted during question time in parliament. Lismore MP Janelle Saffin asked deputy premier John Barilaro whether the health system treated people in regional areas as second-class citizens . The Deputy Premier has described in evidence to the parliamentary inquiry into rural and regional health that it is horrific, she said. Nurses in my community are leaving their shifts emotionally and physically shattered, and a patient died tragically at a local hospital while no doctor was physically present. Health Minister Brad Hazzard interrupted and said: That is not true. There is a fortune going into it and we are getting staff left, right and centre.