What we know about the Mackay aged care vaccine rollout
The entire population of aged care residents and workers are expected to be vaccinated within six weeks.
Mackay
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Residents of the OzCare aged care facility in West Mackay are expected to be among the first in the region to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
As part of the Australian Government's COVID-19 vaccination program, people in priority groups who are most at risk and who need protection the most will receive a vaccine first.
In the Mackay and Mirani region, aged care facilities that are expected to receive the vaccine this week include those in Glenella, Beaconsfield, Mackay, Mirani, North Mackay, and West Mackay.
The Federal Government is not releasing the names of individual aged care facilities for privacy reasons.
An Australian health department spokesman said the amount of doses received an at aged care facility would depend on how many residents consented to be vaccinated.
"There will be sufficient doses to meet the requirements of each facility on the day that vaccinations occur," the spokesman said.
"Consent will be sought prior to vaccinations being delivered at a facility.
"This will ensure an efficient rollout and minimise wastage of doses."
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The entire population of aged care residents and workers is expected to be vaccinated within six weeks.
Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the Federal Government had engaged 500 direct specialist nurses who have been undergoing intensive training in the past few weeks to administer the vaccine in aged care.
"That's on top of the logistics providers who will be delivering vaccine to the facilities," he said.
"It has been a very carefully planned outreach program, and we have the capacity to bring on more nurses if we need to."
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said logistics company DHL would be used to support the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine across Australia.
"The company, along with a network of 200 ultra-low temperature portable freezers, will ensure Australians across the country, including in rural and remote areas, are able to access the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees," he said.
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