Children as young as 12 have begun receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations in Castlemaine with the town’s local GP clinics now all stocking Pfizer as well as AstraZeneca vaccine.
A spokesperson for Castlemaine Health said their staff had begun giving jabs to 12-15-year-olds from last Monday.
“There is a huge demand for vaccination from this newly eligible cohort as well as the 16+ population who have really only been eligible for a short period too,” they said.
“There are some additional logistical challenges with the 12-15 age group, simply because we need a little extra time to document consent and a parent or legal guardian must be present so density limits must be taken into account.
“We have added an extra day to our clinic to help cope with demand and respond to supply.”
Castlemaine GP Dr Ronnie Moule said her Mostyn Street Medical Clinic also began administering the vaccine to youngsters in the 12-15 cohort for the first time last week.
“We’ve done our first for youngsters in this age group starting with a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old,” Dr Moule confirmed.
“People can book in at any of the three GP clinics plus the hospital and all of our three GP clinics now have Pfizer as well as AstraZeneca.”
Castlemaine Health’s vax clinic is focusing on getting as many first jabs into arms as possible.
“Yes, this is the strategy in place,” a spokesperson confirmed.
“Partial protection against COVID-19 may be as soon as 12 days after the first dose, but the second dose encourages stronger immunity against COVID-19.
“All Victorian state vaccination hubs are re-booking second jabs at six weeks to increase the number of people being vaccinated.
“Supply is allocated to the hubs by the Victorian Government once received from the Commonwealth.
“Our COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic has opened up a fourth day each week to enable us to offer more bookings in response to steadily increasing supply.
“Appointments are filling quickly as demand for vaccination is still so high, which is incredibly reassuring and testament to our community.”
