WAGGA's general public have been left to sit tight as details of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout remain unknown.
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While it was announced that Wagga would serve as a vaccine hub to supply 30 'spoke' locations across the Riverina, starting with healthcare workers from March 15, it is still not yet known exactly when the city will receive the necessary doses of the vaccine to begin the process.
"We will let you know what our specific date will be as soon as we hear from the Commonwealth Government," Murrumbidgee Local Health District Chief Executive Officer Jill Ludford said.
A number of aged care residents in private facilities in Wagga have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, and Ms Ludford said healthcare workers will be next in line under the government-led process.
With those frontline workers set to be vaccinated in the coming weeks, members of the general public have been left in limbo.
MLHD acting executive medical director Len Bruce said people would know as soon as they do.
"More information will be going out to the general public as we hear it, but at the moment we don't know when exactly those people will find out how or when they'll get their vaccine, and at this stage, their general practitioner won't know either," he said.
As people wait, Dr Bruce said the health district's staff were getting more and more prepared for administering the vaccines.
"We now have more than 100 trained vaccination nurses, and pharmacists as well, and many general practitioners have started their training," he said.
"While most things rely on the availability of the vaccine, people can rest assured that when it does become available, we have more than enough trained, skilled staff to administer it."
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Ms Ludford added that staff from the MLHD had recently travelled to a COVID-19 vaccination hub in Sydney.
"Our Murrumbidgee team visited the Liverpool hub on Monday where there were lots of opportunities to see and understand the process, as well as many lessons learned ahead of our clinic opening," she said.
As a small number of people remain skeptical of the vaccine, Dr Bruce said there was nothing to fear.
"As with most viral illnesses, the only true way to protect you is with an effective vaccine," he said.
"It is important to understand that the aim of a vaccination is to prevent severe illness where patients need to be hospitalised or be in intensive care, or sadly, patients may die from the illness.
"All the research so far shows that all the COVID-19 vaccines are effecting in preventing those outcomes."
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