Covid-19: All smiles as Mid-North Coast locals take virus head on with vaccines

Eliminating the clutch of Covid-19 on society might seem like a long way away, but there’s simply no better way out than getting vaccinated. Hear from those who have been there and done it.

Sensible, no-nonsense decision making to get vaccinated against Covid-19 is sweeping the Mid-North Coast with locals leaping out of their lounge rooms for a jab.

Port Macquarie’s Grant St clinic has become one of the region’s most popular venues to do so, with the centre having seen a significant increase in presentations following the health district’s move there from the old hospital last week.

The centre is accepting online bookings in bulk, and the process – according to those that have been – could not be easier.

The Mid-North Coast News spoke to a number of vaccine-ready heroes putting the hesitancy behind them, and making it a priority to protect their ‘health, family and community’ against Covid-19.

“I was vaccinated because I believe vaccination is something that is going to, in the long term, have effects that will both protect my health, my family and my community,” nurse Judy Beilby, of Kempsey, said.

Nurse Judy Beilby, of Kempsey, gets vaccinated for Covid-19 at Port Macquarie's Grant St clinic.

Ms Beilby had her second dose on Monday at the Grant St clinic.

As a nurse, she has been strongly advocating for others to step out and get protected, and has been a big supporter of the initiatives being adopted locally by the health district to increase vaccination rates.

She said getting a vaccine is just as easy as giving one.

“I’m always encouraging others to get vaccinated,” she said.

“There is some angst in the community but I think the uptake with the new Covid-screening clinic set up in Riverside Park [Kempsey] has now given the opportunity for people to be screened.

“Also the new vaccination centre at Kempsey Hospital will also give a great advantage to the local community so they can have something at home, in their hometown, without having to travel.

“The walk-in clinic at Kempsey was an excellent idea and was well attended. I had no dramas with the vaccination and would recommend it to anyone.”

Painter Garry Hyde had his first dose of on Monday at Port Macquarie's Grant St clinic.

Painter Garry Hyde had his first dose of on Monday, motivated by a want to end the lockdown and restrictions on movement and travel.

“I want to get rid of Covid so we can be free again,” he said.

“I’ve had my vaccination because I don’t want to be restricted … It’s going to hang around for a long time so we’re better off having it.”

He said receiving his first dose was ‘smooth sailing.’

“The process was pretty smooth sailing and the wait wasn’t that long,” he said.

“I just want things to get back to normal. We’ll probably never get rid of the disease but at least we can be prepared for it. Go ahead and get vaccinated; make life better again.”

John Slaven, Mid-North Coast Health Director of Finance and Asset Management, said the new clinic at Grant St has enabled the health district to increase capacity of the centre from six to twelve chairs.

John Slaven, Mid-North Coast Health Director of Finance and Asset Management

It means medical staff are now able to double the rates of vaccinations they could give at Port’s Community Health Centre.

“It depends on how quickly we can run people through the system, but we can do approximately three vaccinations an hour in each cubicle, so with 10 cubicles, that’s about 30 an hour in total,” he said.

“If we were to run up to 10 hours a day, which we are required to do, we can administer up to 2000 vaccinations a week.”

Mid-North Coast Local Health District has had escalation plans in place to move to Grant St for months in the event that greater numbers of vaccinations were required.

“We’ve been working on this project in the background for several months,” he said.

“Once we made the decision to start, we were able to get it underway within three weeks.

Childcare worker Katie Barr gets vaccinated for Covid-19 at Port Macquarie's Grant St clinic.

This type of forward planning has enabled childcare worker Katie Barr to get a vaccine – which could soon be a mandatory requirement of her job – sooner rather than later.

“I’ve heard that vaccinations could become mandatory to work so instead of having to wait, I decided to get it done before it does become mandatory,” she said.

“I get my flu vaccine, along with my children, so we don’t get sick because my son has asthma and it could get very bad for him if he does get sick.

“It was easy to get the (Covid-19) vaccination … I went online, answered the questions, showed up today, waited till it was my turn and didn’t even feel the needle really.

“From my experience the process hasn’t been bad and I believe, in the future, if we want to go anywhere, you’re going to need it … even to cross the border into another state.

“No one wants to get sick, and you see all the stats of people passing away from the sickness, so it’s better to protect yourself so you don’t end up the same way.

For details on where and how to get vaccinated across the Mid-North Coast, visit https://mnclhd.health.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination/