Public health physician Dr Julie Mudd welcomes COVID vaccine

After 15 months of anxiety and uncertainty, a Townsville health physician is welcoming the local roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination.

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AFTER 15 months of anxiety and uncertainty, a Townsville health physician is welcoming the local roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination.

Townsville University Hospital public health physician Dr Julie Mudd recently received the vaccination, calling it a “relief” to be protected against the highly infections virus.

Dr Mudd is a transplant recipient and experiences ongoing auto-immune issues.

She is also a frontline worker at the hospital who stayed at the forefront of the response to help North Queensland control the spread of the virus last year.

Due to Dr Mudd’s weak immune system and job, she has been considered as a high risk of contracting coronavirus ever since the first case hit Australian shores in January 2020.

Dr Mudd said the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine ensured the future lives of the community.

“It is understandable that people are nervous of something new because we have been somewhat protected here but I think some people have forgotten just how bad COVID is,” she said.

Dr Julie Mudd pictured in the Pathology Queensland Laboratory. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“A lot of people think COVID is only dangerous to people in really extreme circumstances but the people who are vulnerable for COVID are not necessarily the people who you think they are.

“So when you are getting vaccinated you are not only protecting yourself, you are protecting your family, your colleagues and all the people around you,” she said.

Townsville is rolling out the vaccine for people identified to be in group 1a including hotel quarantine workers, emergency department workers and aged care facilities.

Trials so far have indicated people will be protected against coronavirus for up to 12 months.

Dr Mudd, who worked as a scientist before she became a doctor, said the launch of the vaccine was “contributing to a pathway back to a normal life”.

“The important thing to remember is we haven’t cut corners. We have taken out the red tape and bureaucracy and the waiting for funding and permission,” she said.

“It we can do science like this all the time, funded and resourced and prioritised, we would have a lot more problems solved in a smaller time frame.”

Originally published as Public health physician Dr Julie Mudd welcomes COVID vaccine