COVID NSW: Vaccine recipients tell of their painless experience
Early vaccine recipients say they are feeling fine after getting the jab and have implored other Australians to follow their lead.
NSW
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Jane Malysiak has implored Australians to follow her lead and get the COVID jab to help the country.
The Polish war survivor turned COVID celebrity has declared she has felt no side effects from getting the historic dose, saying she can’t even find the spot where the needle went in.
Ms Malysiak is now famous in her home country for becoming the first person to get a vaccine dose in Australia. After uniting Australians in a moment of hope about the next stage in the pandemic fight, Ms Malysiak said she was “very happy to help” spruik the benefits of getting inoculated.
The people who followed Ms Malysiak in being the first to get the vaccine also said they are feeling great after getting the jab.
Australian Defence Force member Corporal Boyd Chatillon said he has had “no side effects whatsoever”.
He said people “may as well get it, there are no ill effects”.
Uniting aged care worker Marilyn Jolly said she is “feeling fine”.
She said there has been “a lot of interest” in whether she had any side effects from others, and said “people can’t wait for it to be their turn”.
Castle Hill Medical Centre’s Dr Nigel Grebert said he felt evidence “reassuring” evidence that the vaccine was working: experiencing “mild tenderness in the arm” and becoming “a little flushed but nothing drastic”.
The state government’s COVID vaccine rollout began yesterday, with 1,200 people on the list to get their first dose on Monday.
Gaya Vellangalloor Srinivasan – a hotel quarantine cleaning manager – was the first person to get the jab as part of the state’s vaccine program.
“I’m really happy and I feel so great. I know that I’m protected and my family overseas know I’m protected,” she said.
Nurse manager Brad McEntee, who was second in line, said he was “relieved”, while NSW police officer Lachlan Pritchard declared it was “absolutely an amazing experience to be one of the first”.
“It’s a proud moment to be one of the first police officers to receive the shot,” he said.
And the highest profile vaccine recipients - Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly have also reported no side effects.
Mr Morrison said he felt a “bit of a sore arm like you get after any vaccine” as did Professor Kelly.
The second shipment of Pfizer vaccines was expected to land in the country overnight, as the government prepares more details for the second week of the Phase 1A rollout.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the beginning of the vaccine means NSW can imagine a time when life is back to normal.
Five hundred people were expected to get the shot at Royal Prince Alfred hospital yesterday, but that will soon ramp up to 1000 per day.
“I‘m looking forward to having the overwhelming majority of our citizens have the vaccine in the next few months,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the jab is “very small and very quick” but it’s “a mighty leap for all of us back to normalcy”.
The Premier also indicated COVID vaccines could be rolled out more quickly than initially planned.
She said her government would not “muck around” in bringing the rollout forward if the vaccine arrives here fast enough.
“From what I‘ve heard and from what I’ve been advised, there could be a chance that the timetable that was issued could be brought forward,” Ms Berejiklian said on Monday.
Ms Berejiklian revealed she had doubts that the vaccine would arrive before March, describing the first NSW doses being administered as a “really positive experience”.
She said her government will “look at bringing our timetable forward” if it gets “good and positive news” about vaccine supplies.
“I think the people of this state know that we don‘t muck around,” she said.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant was circumspect about life getting back to normal due to the vaccine.
She said “2021 will be a year of calibration”.
“As we progressively get more of the population vaccinated and as we add vaccination to our tool kit will be able to progressively calibrate our public health response,” Dr Chant said.
MOVES TO PREVENT VACCINE CHEATS
Aussies in line to get the coronavirus jab will be subject to strict identity checks to prevent people from cheating the system.
The Federal Department of Health said anyone getting the vaccine in phase 1A of the rollout will need to provide proof that they are eligible.
“Border and frontline health care workers will need to provide proof of occupation to demonstrate their eligibility,” a spokeswoman said.
“Aged care and residential disability care workers, people with a disability living in residential accommodation and residents of aged care facilities will have their eligibility confirmed by the facility they work at or live in.”
The Department has also included an eligibility checker on their website to help clinicians escape con artists looking to jump the queue.
“An eligibility checker is available through the Department of Health website to support clinicians and consumers understand if they are part of the priority cohort being vaccinated at that time,” the spokeswoman said.
“Our highest priority and focus remain on our most vulnerable Australians … It is important that we work together to support each and every individual playing a role in vaccinating Australia.”
The strict measures come after two women who dressed up to make themselves appear older were caught in America trying to get the jab.
AIR NEW ZEALAND’S VACCINE PASSPORTS
Air New Zealand is taking steps towards a vaccine passport system, starting with a trial of a health verification app on flights between Auckland and Sydney.
The company said on Monday it would trial the Travel Pass smartphone application on a number of April flights between the two cities.
“Once borders reopen, travel is going to look very different, with customers’ health data needing to be verified at check-in,” chief digital officer Jennifer Sepull said in a statement.
“It‘s essentially like having a digital health certificate that can be easily and securely shared with airlines.”
Travellers will be able to permit health professionals to upload test results and vaccination certificates to the app.
That information can then be checked against travel requirements and give the user a “green tick” showing they’re good to go.
Customers will be invited to voluntarily join the three-week trial once the app becomes available for download in April.
An executive at the organisation that developed the app, the International Air Transport Association, said it’s a step towards restarting international travel.
“Air New Zealand’s trial of IATA Travel Pass will help give governments the confidence to re-open borders and passengers the confidence to travel,” senior vice president Nick Careen said.
Air New Zealand is in talks with government agencies about how to validate testing and vaccination information, the company said.
The health data will be kept secure and won’t be stored in a central database, the company said.
Other international airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways previously flagged they would trial the IATA health check system, the organisation has said.
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