Phase 1A of COVID-19 vaccine rollout starts at 9am Monday

It’s been 14 months since the first COVID-19 patient presented to Westmead Hospital, but Monday is V-day, the start of the vaccine rollout that will lead us out of the pandemic.

Welcome to V-day.

In a record amount of time, the world’s scientists have come together to create vaccines that can stop the coronavirus pandemic that has so far killed almost 2.5 million people across the globe.

Almost 200 million doses have already been administered around the world and now it is Australia’s turn. Now it’s our turn to do our bit.

Westmead Hospital ED nurse Mishel Kamolova is keen to get her vaccine to protect herself and her family. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has urged Australians to line up for vaccination as soon as they can.

As of 9am on Monday, 678,000 people on the frontline — border force staff, quarantine workers, COVID-19 medical personnel, and aged care and disability workers and residents – will be the first to receive their vaccines as part of the phase 1A of the biggest vaccination rollout in Australia’s history.

By October it is hoped most Australians over the age of 18 will be vaccinated.

“The key message is safety, effectiveness and confidence,” Mr Hunt told The Sunday Telegraph.

“If people can see safety and effectiveness, then they will be confident and the numbers will grow and grow,” Mr Hunt said, referencing the latest study published in The Lancet which showed the AstraZeneca vaccine had “100 per cent protection against severe disease”.

In a special information liftout today, Mr Hunt called on all Australians to get behind the vaccine rollout.

“Australia is about to embark on one of the most important public health initiatives in our nation’s history,” he said.

“Getting the vaccination is both an individual and a collective responsibility.

“The vaccine will help prevent us from getting sick if we are infected with COVID-19. It will keep people out of hospital. It will prevent people from dying. It will improve lives. It will save lives.”

For 13 months, Westmead Hospital has been on the frontline of COVID-19.

A man in his 50s who had recently travelled to Wuhan arrived in Sydney on January 19 and presented to Westmead Hospital days later with a high temperature, cough and sore throat. Tests soon confirmed Australia’s first COVID-19 case.

Jessica Incledon is looking forward to her family, including kids Hugo and Olive, being protected from COVID-19. Picture: Tim Hunter

Westmead has since treated over 660 patients. At the height of the pandemic, in late March and early April, NSW was seeing hundreds of new cases every day, and staff were treating desperately sick patients in intensive care.

Tomorrow 480 Westmead staff will roll up their sleeves to get the protection they have been dreaming of.

Emergency department nurse Mishel Kamolova, 24, has seen many COVID-19 patients come through the hospital doors and she is keen to get her vaccine.

“We have been swabbing them, giving medications, and at the beginning it was stressful because no one knew what effects it could have on ourselves and our families.

“I am very excited to have the vaccine, I’ll feel protected, especially coming home to see my parents and family,” she said.

Our vaccination guide has all you need to know about who, how, where and when you can get your vaccinations over the coming months as the three phases of the vaccines roll out, plus all your questions addressed by our panel of Australian and international experts.

The way Australia has dealt with the pandemic had been the envy of the world, Mr Hunt said and despite small numbers of protesters who gathered in capital cities objecting to vaccination, by and large, the community had rallied together.

“The Australian way has sustained us at every turn – and we now draw on that again with this vaccine rollout.”