Rollout to recruit specialist coronavirus vaccine force

COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out to the population from hospitals, general practices, vaccination clinics, pharmacies and Aboriginal health services, the federal government says.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out to the population from hospitals, general practices, state and federal vaccination clinics, pharmacies and Aboriginal health services, the federal government says.

The Pfizer vaccine will be the first to be administered to five million Australians, including healthcare workers, the elderly and the vulnerable. The Pfizer jab will need to administered in hospitals or vaccination clinics attached to hospitals, given the need to store it at super-cold temperatures. Special teams of healthcare workers will travel to nursing homes to administer the Pfizer jab, using dry shipping boxes as storage containers.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the AstraZeneca vaccine was on track to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration at the end of February or in early March. That will be able to be administered by GPs and pharmacists. Federal and state vaccination clinics will also be established to deliver doses of the vaccine.

In Indigenous communities, community-controlled health organisations will administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A special vaccination workforce of between 500 and 1000 healthcare workers is also being recruited to help the rollout. The extra vaccination workforce will help support and supplement ­existing services and help outreach in aged care and remote communities, working with ­existing providers.

A panel of four providers — Aspen Medical, Healthcare Australia, International SOS and Sonic Clinical Services — will ­recruit and supply the extra vaccination workforce.

“Our vaccination strategy ­requires the highest levels of ­operational readiness,” Mr Hunt said. “As vaccines are approved for use in Australia and our vaccination program commences, we are ensuring the workforce is there to administer vaccines in an efficient manner, particularly to priority groups.”

Healthcare workers will require additional training to ­deliver the jabs, which come in multi-dose vials, Mr Hunt said.

“They will have to draw the vaccine out rather than it being preloaded.

The Australian College of Nursing has been charged with preparing training materials to cover the handling and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

Expressions of interest requests for GPs and pharmacists in administering the vaccines will be issued this week.