The next phase for Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD’s vaccination effort
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations, including winter booster doses, can be made via the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District media release: Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Following the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District’s (ISLHD) successful contribution to the COVID-19 vaccination program, its mass vaccination centre in Wollongong and vaccination clinics at Shellharbour City Centre and Shoalhaven Hospital will close on 30 June.
ISLHD Chief Executive, Margot Mains, said this will enable the District to focus on delivering outreach clinics for vulnerable and harder to reach communities with lower vaccination rates and hospital patients and staff. GPs and pharmacies will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to the majority of the community.
Ms Mains thanked the community for rolling up their sleeves and attending the District’s vaccination facilities in such strong numbers over the past 15 months.
“The past few years have been challenging for everyone, but our community has remained strongly committed to getting vaccinated against COVID-19,” Ms Mains said.
“The District’s vaccination facilities, and the hundreds of dedicated staff who work there, have significantly contributed to a program which has seen more than 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered at our centres since early last year.
“Our vaccination facilities have done a stellar job. None of us will forget the massive effort involved in transforming a vacant department store into a purpose-built mass vaccination centre in just over a month. This facility will remain an iconic feature of our response to the pandemic, but the time has come to transition these services and redirect our resources to where they are needed most.
“As we move into the next phase of living with COVID-19, our work will now focus on providing outreach vaccination clinics to vulnerable communities, hospital inpatients and staff, while the booster vaccination schedule for the broader community will transition to GPs and pharmacies.”
The high volume, large vaccination clinics which were set up throughout NSW to meet the demand for mass vaccination will gradually be closed as demand has now decreased, allowing the staff working in these centres, including many nurses, to return to their important roles in hospitals and health services.
“At their peak, vaccinations administered at ISLHD operated clinics reached an average of 7,900 per week, while in recent weeks, the average is around 750,” Ms Mains said.
“Many staff have already been redeployed from our vaccination clinics to work in areas impacted by staff furloughed due to COVID-19 and increased demand for hospital and emergency services, which is likely to remain high over the coming winter period.”
Ms Mains said NSW Health has contingency plans in place to support GPs and pharmacies if rapid upscaling is required to accommodate an additional booster dose or a new vaccine for a new variant of concern.
More than 3,500 vaccine providers, including GPs and pharmacists, will continue to provide the majority of COVID-19 vaccinations to the broader community across NSW.
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations, including winter booster doses, can be made via the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder.
NSW has administered a total of 17,975,502 vaccinations as of 8 May 2022. Of these 28.2 per cent (5,068,310) were administered by NSW Health and 71.8 per cent (12,907,192) in other settings, such as GPs, pharmacists and aged care.
For the latest information about the COVID-19 Vaccination Program in NSW, visit the NSW Government website.
