JOSH BRINE
and PETA-MARIE PHILIPPOU
A LOCAL registered nurse became the first person in the Riverland to receive the Pfizer vaccine in Renmark last Wednesday.
Deborah Webb received her first dose of the vaccine after completing a night shift, and said she was “grateful that it’s now available”.
“I would 100 per cent recommend for people to get the vaccine because it has been well researched and deemed safe,” she said.
“It’s a relief that we may now be getting back to normal.”
The clinic, located at the Renmark Paringa District Hospital, was the second in the region to open after Waikerie health care workers received their first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last Monday.
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network CEO Wayne Champion said the Waikerie clinic received the AstraZeneca jabs due to vaccine availability at the time.
“We were hoping that we would be doing Waikerie with the Pfizer vaccine – that changed because the Pfizer vaccine delivery schedule didn’t quite work for us,” he said.
“We stuck with the vaccination dates and, of course, we already had the AstraZeneca vaccine available to us through Murray Bridge.”
After receiving his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Riverland General Hospital on Monday, Mr Champion said COVID-19 immunisation would “protect everyone”.
“I’m really excited to get the vaccine… well, as excited as you can be to get a needle in the arm,” he said.
“This is us starting the rollout of phase 1b – so to health workers more generally – and obviously I’ve been watching eagerly as all the people in phase 1a… have had their vaccine.
“Getting vaccinated is a step towards protecting the community because it means that if one of my close associates gets COVID-19 hopefully I can block that train of transmission and stop it from spreading to the rest of the community.
“We’ve had a very positive response.
“I guess health workers are more educated around vaccination and what it means and how it works than the general public so it’s great to see so many health workers lining up and rolling up their sleeves to help protect the community.”
During phase 1b of the Federal Government’s vaccine rollout, which began on Monday, people aged 70 years and over, health care workers, indigenous people over 55, adults with specific medical conditions, and workers in high-risk or critical industries – including defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing – may now be vaccinated.