FRONTLINE workers at Frankston Hospital have begun to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Peninsula Health staff began to receive their first vaccine doses on 3 March. Nurse Vanessa Nolan said “it went absolutely fine, barely felt a thing.”
“It was a really simple and seamless process. I sat in the chair, signed a consent form, got the vaccination, sat down for about 15 minutes or so and then back off to work,” she said. “I’ve seen the effects of the virus on people and their families. I’m just doing my part to get vaccinated, not just to protect myself and my family from infection, but everyone else in the entire community.
“Every vaccine that is received brings us that further step closer towards curbing the spread of the virus in our community.”
Ms Nolan has been working in the Bass Ward at the hospital, which is dedicated to caring for COVID-19 patients.
The vaccination clinic for staff has been set up at the hospital’s John Madder Hall. Around 15 staff are based at the clinic, tasked with delivering doses to more than 100 staff members a day.
Peninsula Health says that a trained immunisation nurse is on site to administer adrenaline if someone has an adverse reaction.
The Pfizer vaccine was granted provisional approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia in late January. “Following a thorough and independent review of Pfizer’s submission, the TGA has decided that this vaccine meets the high safety, efficacy and quality standards required for use in Australia,” the TGA said. The TGA approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in mid-February.
Peninsula Health acting executive director of medical services, Dr Shyaman Menon, said “we are pleased to be able to provide some of our frontline workers – doctors, nurses and support services staff – their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
“As we continue to respond to the pandemic, this is an important step to help keep our people safe and well, and enable them to continue to provide the best care for our community. Congratulations to our multidisciplinary team here at Peninsula Health for all their tremendous work getting our Staff COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic ready, in particular the Infection Prevention and Control Unit and Pharmacy.”
The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 2.5 million people worldwide. Just over 900 deaths in Australia have been attributed to the disease.
Dunkley MP Peta Murphy has also received her first vaccine dose. Ms Murphy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, and said she took the vaccine “in order to show people with underlying health conditions, that make you either more vulnerable to catching COVID or make it harder for you to fight COVID off if you catch it, that it’s okay to get vaccinated.”
“If you fall into category 1B, then the public health message is that if you’re worried about anything, talk to your GP, talk to your specialist. But like me, get the advice that it’s safe, get vaccinated,” she said. “It’s really a public health imperative.”
Peninsula Health acting clinical director of emergency medicine Dr Jonathon Dowling also received the vaccine last week. “I’d like to reassure everyone that it’s safe, that it’s easy,” he said.
“We want to have as many of our staff vaccinated as possible, particularly in the high risk settings so we can continue to care for people as they present. Many of my colleagues have seen first-hand the effects of COVID-19 on our patients as they have come through, so I think that’s driving a lot of the interest in the vaccine from our teams as we start taking those steps towards a post COVID world.”
For more information on COVID-19 vaccines visit health.gov.au.