Byron Bay mass vaccination clinic offers Pfizer at surf club
People were waiting outside the Byron Surf Club before a new vaccination clinic even opened on Friday morning, according to one of the nurses.
Byron Shire
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People were waiting for the doors to open when Byron Bay’s mass Covid-19 vaccination clinic opened at 8am on Friday.
A steady stream of people then rolled up at Byron Bay Surf Club throughout the morning for their jabs.
Among those turning up for a Pfizer vaccine was local plasterer Reuben Eadie.
“I’m honestly pretty relieved because I could get it quickly,” Mr Eadie said.
He said dropping by the walk-in clinic was a last minute decision for him on his way to a worksite on Friday morning.
Concerned the NSW Government’s road map rules would hamper his access to work when they kicked in on Monday, Mr Eadie jumped at the opportunity to get his first vaccine.
“It was all perfect timing because I just started a new job in Byron and I was on my way to work,” he said.
Nurse Simone Jenkinson, who administered Mr Eadie’s vaccine, said she was pleased to see such a positive response to the clinic.
Northern NSW Local Health District’s vaccine program co-ordinator Matt Long said they had opened up bookings for the clinic up to October 22.
The clinic may run on weekdays until that date, or could be extended if needed but Mr Long said it would return in time for people to return for their second doses.
“We’ve got capacity to vaccinate up to 84 vaccinations a day,” Mr Long said.
“We have about 24 of that capacity that’s bookable but we wanted to keep lots of capacity available for walk-ins.”
Friday was reserved for walk-ins and while Monday has mostly filled up, Mr Long said there were still plenty of times available throughout the week.
While more than 70 per cent of the Byron Shire has now had their first dose of a Covid-19 jab, Mr Long said the aim of the clinic was to make it “as easy as possible for people who, for whatever reason, might not have gotten around to being vaccinated or have got concerns”.
For the linguistically diverse local community, Mr Long said there was foreign language material available on the vaccine.
“We’re just trying to make is as easy to access as possible,” he said.
The health service has already been running vaccine clinics in Tweed, Lismore and Grafton but Mr Long said there were a few reasons for implementing one at Byron.
“We saw those vaccination rates were lower in the Byron area but also it is a place where people will obviously visit once things open up,” he said.
He said Byron would be likely to be a town with venues of concerns once the state had less Covid restrictions because of its popularity.
“We’ve liaised with the chamber of commerce to make it as easy as possible for people who work in hospitality or people who work in retail, or in accommodation businesses to be vaccinated,” he said.
Mr Long was hopeful the extra accessibility with the clinic, paired with boosted Pfizer resources at local GP clinics and the addition of Moderna to pharmacies’ offerings would boost Byron’s vaccination statistics.
“There’s a view that there’s a lot of anti-vaxxers in the Byron area but the fact that so far, 7 out of 10 people in Byron have had their first dose tells me the majority of people do want to get vaccinated,” he said.
“I think up to August and September it was more difficult to get a vaccine.
“Now I think the supply is good.
“The turnout this morning is probably better than I thought.”
Being run in the surf club that overlooked Main Beach was another drawcard.
“This is the best looking vaccination clinic in Australia,” Mr Long said.
Registered nurse and accredited nurse immuniser Tracey Cairns, who has previously worked on the Tweed clinic, said the addition of one in Byron was great.
“It’s very exciting and it’s even more exciting to see lots of people coming through the door,” she said.
“People have been commenting that it’s good to see it here in Byron, it’s close, it’s convenient and if that’s what’s been preventing them having their vaccine, I’m happy to provide that service.”
She said people were ready to roll up their sleeves before the clinic opened on Friday morning.
“I hadn’t even opened the doors and people were hanging there waiting to get through,” she said
Ms Cairns said she was thankful the community had welcomed the clinic into the town.
“It’s been really positive feedback this morning so I just want to thank the community for that and thanks to management for coming up with the idea and setting the clinic up with us,” she said.
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