THE WIMMERA has hit a vaccination rollout milestone, with data revealing 70 per cent of the eligible population in the region have received their first dose of the vaccine.
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Of the six local government areas in the Wimmera, Buloke Shire has lead the way, with 82.1 per cent of the eligible population receiving their first vaccine dose and 58.3 per cent receiving their second.
Horsham Rural City Council has a 73.1 per cent first dose vaccination and 48.4 per cent second, Hindmarsh Shire has 70.7 per cent first and 43.2 per cent second, Yarriambiack has 76.6 per cent first and 52.9 per cent second, and West Wimmera Shire has 73.5 per cent first and 40.2 per cent second.
Grampians Vaccine Sub Hub coordinator Genevive Lilley said while the numbers were impressive, there was still more work to be done.
"It is fantastic. It has been so much hard work and it is great to see the numbers getting up there. There is still a lot to go because the eligibility has opened up and there is still a lot of young people who haven't had a chance to receive a vaccine," she said.
"Our numbers are going up, over the next three weeks we are going to receive more vaccines and the numbers are higher than they were so it is not going to take another three months to get through the last 30 (per cent)."
Health services in the Wimmera have been working to make the vaccine available in as many places as possible, with Monday's vaccine blitz starting in Nhill.
Similar sessions will be hosted in Kaniva on September 23 and Goroke on September 24.
Ms Lilley said once the majority of people looking for an appointment were vaccinated there would be a focus on reaching remote areas and communities.
"I still think we have a lot of hard-to-reach people that we have got to work on. People who might be isolated for some reason, don't have a phone or access to travel, or live a long way away," she said.
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"We are working with community groups to go and find them because they aren't coming to us and knocking on the door.
"So we might be looking at doing more outreach to the towns or working with really small outreach clinics, where somebody might identify a handful of people in their community and we go door-to-door with a handful of nurses.
"And then just having systems in place to capture the rest of the people who fell through the cracks. Some of them might be elderly people at home, people who are just maybe isolated due to mental health problems, those sorts of people."
To book a vaccine appointment, visit the Victorian government website https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/book-your-vaccine-appointment.
Vaccines are also available at local pharmacies and GP clinics.
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