Behind the scenes tour of NSW Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Centre

The Daily Telegraph has been given a behind-the-scenes tour of the NSW Covid-19 mass vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park. Take a look.

New South Wales passed the milestone of administering more than half a million Covid-19 vaccinations earlier this month — almost ten per cent of the country’s 5,810,222 total jabs — and Sydney’s mass vaccination centre has played a key role in the state’s speedy and successful rollout.

The Daily Telegraph’s website editor Wendy Fitzgibbon and chief entertainment writer Jonathon Moran were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the state-of-the-art facility at Sydney Olympic Park when they received their jabs earlier this month.

Journalist Jonathan Moran receives his Covid-19 vaccine shot at the NSW Mass Vaccination Hub in Sydney Olympic Park.

About 200 registered nurses and midwives work at the purpose-built centre which is open six days a week from 8am to 8pm, forming about two-thirds of its 300-strong workforce.

“The staff are amazing and it’s a very impressive facility,” Moran said after his second jab.

“The work the people are doing here is absolutely phenomenal and what they have achieved and what they’ve created in such a short amount of time blows my mind.”

During its first weeks of operation in early May, the centre solely focused on delivering Pfizer vaccinations to priority groups including healthcare workers, emergency services workers as well as quarantine and border workers and their households.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian holds a media briefing at the Vaccination Hub at Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Since then, those aged 40-49 have been invited to register their interest in receiving the Pfizer vaccine at the centre, as well as people aged 50 for their AstraZeneca jab.

“The mass vaccination centre is able to administer up to 30,000 vaccines per week, that means around 5000 vaccinations per day,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

“The centre, combined with the more than 100 NSW Health run clinics and hubs, means NSW Health can administer around 60,000 vaccines each week across the state.”

The centre runs like clockwork, with up-to-the-minute live technology informing staff how many jabs have been administered each hour and how many vials are ready to be put into arms.

The registration kiosks outside at a mass COVID-19 vaccination hub in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

“Opening a vaccination centre of this scale at Sydney Olympic Park is a massive and unprecedented undertaking, and one I’m very proud of as Health Minister,” Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged everyone in NSW who can be vaccinated to do so.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant at a media briefing at the Vaccination Hub at Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“Vaccination is very effective at reducing your risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 and will also reduce the chance you will pass on the infection to your loved ones,” Dr Chant said.

If you are eligible in Phase 1a, Phase 1b or aged 40 years or older you can book an appointment now.

To check your eligibility and book an appointment at the NSW mass vaccination centre or a location near you, visit the Australian Government eligibility checker.