Australia received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday after a Singapore Airlines flight landed in Sydney with 142,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The rollout of the vaccine will begin on February 22 with a target of vaccinating 240 aged care homes within the first week.
Doses will be distributed across the country depending on which states and territories have the highest concentration of people from priority groups, such as the elderly.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said vaccination for residents and staff will be made available through their residential aged care facilities and will be administered through an in-reach workforce provider.
Residential aged care homes will be grouped, up to a maximum of eight facilities within a 30-kilometre radius, to ensure efficient delivery of the vaccine.
“Healthcare Australia will be providing the vaccination workforce in New South Wales and Queensland, and Aspen Medical will be responsible for the other states and territories,” Mr Hunt said.
In New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia governments will be responsible for vaccinating residents and staff of the public sector residential aged care and disability care facilities.
In the following weeks it’s expected the vaccination program will reach more than 2,600 residential aged care homes, encompassing more than 183,000 residents and 339,000 staff.
The following resources are now available for residential aged care facilities:
- Planning checklist for vaccination day
- Consent process flow-chart
- Site readiness checklist
- Clinical governance requirements
- Consent in the residential aged care context
The following information is also available for facilities, workers, residents and their families, carers and loved ones:
- Information on COVID-19 Pfizer (Comirnaty) vaccine
- Preparing for COVID-19 vaccination
- What to expect before, and on, the day of vaccination
- After your COVID-19 vaccination
- Consent form
