Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell has called on the Andrews Labor Government to ensure more doses of the Pfizer vaccine are distributed to the south-west region.
Ms Britnell said limited doses of the Pfizer vaccine are being provided to state run vaccination hubs, which meant people aged under 50 did not have ready access to a vaccination.
She said the Federal Government supplies vaccinations to State and Territory Governments which then determine which vaccination hubs it is distributed to.
“I’ve been contacted by people aged under 50 who are working with the elderly and the disabled who aren’t direct employees of state or federal run health service.
They don’t have access to any level of vaccination unless they travel to Ballarat or Geelong where the Pfizer vaccination is more readily available,” Ms Britnell said.
“More of the Pfizer vaccine needs to be coming to the state-run vaccination hub in Warrnambool to ensure we can get as many people who are working with the vulnerable in our community vaccinated.”
Ms Britnell said the State Government has made aged and disability workers a priority at several state hubs during a five-day blitz – but Warrnambool’s site was not listed as a “priority site”.
“The whole south-west corner of the state doesn’t have a priority site – the closest is Ballarat,” she said.
“We are in a set of restrictions where we are trying to limit people moving around the community – but at the same time the State Government is making it impossible for disability and aged care workers aged under 50 to get a vaccination close to home as possible.”
