East Grampians Health Services is preparing to help distribute the COVID-19 vaccinations despite still being largely uncertain of what their role will be.
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On January 7, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated Australia would begin vaccinating people against COVID-19 sooner than had initially been anticipated.
"We are now in a position where we believe we'll be able to commence vaccinations of high priority groups in mid to late February," he said.
EGHS chief executive officer Andrew Freeman said now a rough time frame had been given, the healthcare provider was waiting to learn how they will help the vaccine's roll out.
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"I believe the Department of Health and Human Services is still in the planning phase at the moment," he said.
"Our role will be further defined in the next couple of weeks."
Mr Freeman said EGHS is well-equipped to help with the distribution of the vaccines.
"We're committed to providing whatever resources we need to so we roll out the vaccines as quickly and safely as possible," he said.
"We've got in the vicinity of about 10 qualified vaccinators among our staff.
"Not all those staff members are full-time employees, so we may need to see if they've got the flexibility to do some additional work and if we've also got to move staff around.
"Anyone who is going to undertake providing these vaccinations needs to undergo some education, and we've certainly put our hand up to make sure our staff are ready to do that."
There will be five phases of priority population to receive the vaccines.
The recipients in the first phase will include quarantine and border workers, front line health officials, and aged care and disability care workers and residents.
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