NSW Covid vaccination: Vinnies Vax Van protecting vulnerable people

The Vinnies Vax Van is rolling through NSW and arming our state’s most vulnerable against Covid-19.

From those sleeping rough to disabled people, prisoners and refugees, the Vinnies Vax Van is arming our state’s most vulnerable against Covid-19.

Chief van operator and nurse Danielle Austin, 42, is on a mission to vaccinate NSW’s “invisible population” to help Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant achieve her dream of 90 per cent vaccination coverage.

She has already vaccinated more than 5,000 people in the past four months while travelling to every corner of Greater Sydney - from social housing enclaves to prisons, community centres and homeless populations.

Nurse Danielle Austin and social housing resident Robert at The Vinnie’s Vax Van outside Tierney House Darlinghurst. Picture John Grainger

Not only are these groups at higher risk of getting severe illness, but they’re also less likely to get the jab either because of poor social literacy, a lack of access to technology or poor mobility.

“It’s so important we’ve got a service that goes out to these vulnerable populations because there’s issues around education and awareness among some of these groups and they often have trouble engaging with mainstream health services,” she said.

“If you’ve got low tech literacy or it’s difficult to read, it’s extraordinarily difficult to get an appointment in the mainstream hubs.”

The service is particularly important because people with health conditions or other vulnerabilities are more likely to develop complications from Covid-19, she says.

“For every person that we vaccinate, that’s one more person that won’t die from Covid. So that’s really the basic mission is - the more people we can vaccinate the more people we protect and the less strain is on the health system.”

Bondi social housing resident Robert Norford is currently recovering from an abscess in his spine at Tierney House outside St Vincent’s Hospital.

He has always wanted to do his part to protect NSW but it would have been almost impossible for him to get the jab through mainstream services because he can’t read and write.

“I’m doing it for the country, I’m doing it for my family and friends and I don’t want other people catching the disease and I believe everyone should get the vaccine,” he said.