WWII survivor and PM Scott Morrison receive first Aussie COVID vaccines
An aged care resident who survived World War Two in Poland and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have received the COVID-19 vaccine in a 20-strong group of the first Australians get the jab
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An elderly woman who survived World War Two in Poland has become the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Australia while Prime Minister has also received his shot.
Sydney aged care resident Jane Malysiak, 84, was alongside Scott Morrison, a nurse, GP and soldier as among the 20 Australians to have received the first Pfizer vaccines today.
That group included frontline workers, another age care resident beside Ms Malysiak and the nation’s medical leaders.
The Prime Minister sat calmly in the chair as he was asked by a nurse if he felt well.
He told the nurse he felt fine, and was then given his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
After the needle was administered he gave the nurse a “COVID handshake” by bumping elbows, and did the same to Health Minister Greg Hunt, who had sat beside him during the jab.
Mr Morrison then followed the other jab recipients into a waiting room to receive their vaccination paperwork.
The jab recipients, who are due to receive the second dose of the vaccine in three weeks, received their vaccinations in a show of confidence in the jab ahead of the rollout commencing around the country on Monday.
But the very first shot given on Australian soil went to Ms Malysiak, a member of the Wentworthville League Club who was born in 1936 in Kosimszko, a small town in Poland, where she grew up to run a corner shop with her husband.
She enjoys arts, crafts and gardening and likes to read, do quizzes, watch movies and music sessions.
Mr Morrison said Ms Malysiak was a “great Australian”.
“We’re very proud of (her),” she said.
Before her shot asked Ms Malysiak if she was ready to go, and she replied “yeah I’m ready”.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the small group received the jab as the bulk of the doses are currently being distributed to different states ahead of the broad national vaccination program starting tomorrow.
GETTING LIFE BACK TO NORMAL
Life in Australia will become “more normal” every day from now on thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Mr Morrison said.
The freshly vaccinated PM said the “exact path” toward normalcy will become clearer as the rollout continues in the coming months.
“Every day that goes past from here, gets more normal,” he said.
“This vaccination addresses ... serious disease and the sort of widespread fatalities that we saw overseas.
“That element of this pandemic, because of this vaccination means that we move further away from that every single day.
“That is a big change, I can tell you, that is a massive change and that will lead to the others.”
Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said Australia’s health experts would closely monitor the impact of the vaccine rollout here and abroad.
“That key point is about the severe disease and we know that both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine which we have now had, that will protect me,” he said.
“There is new evidence coming all the time from the real-world experience, from countries that have been vaccinating now for a few months, in the case of Pfizer and a little bit in terms of AstraZeneca in the UK.”
Prof Kelly said that experience had confirmed decreases in hospitalisations, deaths and in serious disease.
“These are important findings,” he said.
“Early advice out of Israel seems to suggest that there is also a decrease in the viral load or the amount of virus that people are carrying if they become infected after vaccination.
“That leads us towards an idea about how useful this is to stop transmission but it is early days and preliminary information is useful, but I will wait to see confirmation of that.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt said a major change as a result of the vaccine rollout starting was in confidence going up.
“That will lead to shops and schools being progressively more and more open and other activities around the country,” he said.
“And in the later stages, of course, in a world where there are between 300,000 and 400,000 cases a day, engagement with the outside world is something that happens, perhaps on a more staggered basis.”
TODAY’S OTHER VACCINE RECIPIENTS
After Ms Malysiak received the jab, second in the queue was John Healy, an elderly man who lives in the WG Taylor Village in Narrabeen.
Mr Healy grew up in Melbourne and worked at the Commonwealth Bank for 38 years.
He met his wife Rhonda at Lane Cove at a musical comedy at Gilbert and Sullivan’s.
Mr Healy has one daughter, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Others receiving the vaccine include 74-year-old Paul Russell, who is volunteer and librarian at aged care facility Uniting Malluana Blacktown.
Another recipient was Laurel Gray, 88, who was born in 1932 during the Great Depression.
Ms Gray was one of six children, who went on to work in council as a draughtsman.
She is now an active resident at Mullauna who leads art and crafts work at the facility.
Joseph Goral will also get the jab. Born in Poland, Mr Goral arrived in Australia more than 50 years ago and now enjoys being social and active in retirement.
Mila Thomas, a disability care worker, was next to get a dose of Pfizer.
She was born in the Philippines and moved to Australia in June 1985.
Ms Thomas started as a Disability Support Worker with Ability Options in 2015.
Australian Border Force worker Alysha Eyre received a vaccine.
Ms Eyre has worked for borders for more than a decade, and is currently an Aviation Traveller at the Sydney International Airport.
She was joined by ABF colleague Jon Buttenshaw, who has worked at the Container Examination Facility and is currently deployed to Aviation Traveller at Sydney International Airport.
Mr Buttenshaw is Competency Assessment and Training Officer (CATO) in all ABF drug detection technology as well as x-ray and body scan.
Australian Defence Force Corporal Boyd Chatillon, who has been supporting the government’s Quarantine Compliance Monitoring (QCM) program at Sydney quarantine hotels also got a jab.
He has been part of the Australian Defence Force’s Operation COVID-19 Assist since it started in March 2020.
When Mr Chatillon was first deployed to the Operation, he was seconded to NSW Heath to help with contract tracing.
In May 2020, he moved across to hotel infill team where he’s worked in all areas, from command to helping unload buses.
Mr Chatillon joined the Army Reserve in 2007 as a combat engineer.
He was deployed to East Timor in 2011 and 2012.
He is a father of three children, and in his civilian job he works as a client account manager for an Australian engineering firm.
TOP DOCS GET THE SHOT
Also on the list was Patricia Enriquez, a nurse working at a GP Respiratory Clinic at Castle Hill Medical Centre where the vaccine rollout is taking place.
“Growing up in another country and immigrating to Australia at 11-years-old I have seen the contrast in healthcare and that has made me a dedicated and passionate nurse. ,” she said.
“Working in Castle Hill Medical Centre, I have gained knowledge and experience in different aspects of healthcare especially in vaccinations and have been working in the GPRC since it opened.”
Ms Enriquez said she had the opportunity to witness “first hand the importance of vaccination and its impact in the wider community”.
“
Having an understanding on how unwell people can be with COVID, I think that the vaccine will not only help individuals but will collectively help Australia back to normality again one step at a time,” she said.
Dr Nigel Grebert received the jab on Sunday, shortly before Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly and Prime Minister Scott Morrison had the injection.
NO PAIN FOR A BIG GAIN
The COVID-19 jab “doesn’t hurt at all” Australia’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Professor Alison McMillan has declared after receiving her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Prof McMillan said she was thankful to have the opportunity to receive the jab and show “solidarity and confidence” in the vaccines ahead of the broader rollout in Australia.
“I have to really stress it doesn’t hurt ... it really doesn’t hurt at all,” she said.
Prof McMillan said she would be travelling to Howard Springs in the Northern Territory to work with a team on how to expand the special COVID-19 quarantine facility established there for returned travellers.
“This will help me as I go there and those working there, that additional protection (from the vaccine),” she said.
“This is the next step for us ... protecting the most vulnerable and keeping safe our healthcare workers who then look out for us.
“I encourage everyone when your opportunity comes to get the vaccine.”
Mr Hunt said in his discussions with then-Labor health spokesman Chris Bowen last year it was a “strong focus” on the need for “key leaders” across different political parties to take the jab early to provide confidence in the jab.
“That has been a view in many places around the world,” he said.
Mr Hunt said Labor leader Anthony Albanese would also be vaccinated “this week”.
“I hand-delivered a letter to the now shadow minister … Mark Butler after our discussion concerning this, inviting the Opposition Leader and two others from the Opposition to participate during the course of the coming days,” he said.
“And the same day I hand-delivered a letter to Adam Bandt inviting the Greens to participate.
“This is a cross-parliamentary view where parliamentarians don‘t have any special status.
“(This) is about the confidence and indeed the research shows that people want to see that if we believe it‘s safe, then that will give them greater confidence.”
FACEBOOK HAMPERING ROLLOUT INFO
Official government advertising promoting the COVID-19 vaccine rollout will not appear on Facebook so long as the social media giant continues to block Australian news and information pages.
Mr Hunt confirmed he had spoken to his office to confirm the government would not be paying Facebook to host vaccine ads when the ban came into effect on Thursday.
“I will check that my department is not, but on my watch, until this issue is resolved, there will not be Facebook advertising,” he said.
“I’ve got to say basically you have corporate titans acting as sovereign bullies and they won’t get away with it.”
Mr Hunt also revealed he and Department of Health secretary Professor Brendan Murphy would be among the first Australians to receive the AstraZeneca jab next month when it begins to rollout.
“There was a Lancet article, which is one of the world’s premiere medical journals, the World Health Organization also put out a finding in the last week of that, of up to 100 per cent protection in the case of AstraZeneca against a serious illness, hospitalisation and loss of life,” he said.
“The first goal is protection, the second goal is to have as high as possible (vaccination) rate.”
Mr Hunt said the evidence of the vaccines preventing transmission of COVID-19 was “increasingly strong”.
“But also the longevity of the antibody protection, and that’s not known yet, but it will be known over the course of the coming year,” he said.
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