coronavirus, COVID-19, coronavirus, COVID vaccine
A Canberra nurse has become the first person in the ACT to receive a COVID-19 jab. Maddy Williams, 22, received the Pfizer vaccine on Monday morning at the Garran Surge Centre, which will now double as a coronavirus testing clinic and the ACT’s first vaccination hub. Ms Williams, whose first nursing job was testing people for coronavirus at the facility, said she would be among staff administering the vaccine after she got the jab. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt asked her if it hurt. She said it was painless. Fifty people in the ACT are expected to get the coronavirus vaccine at the Garran Surge Centre on Monday. The territory’s first batch of the Pfizer vaccine arrived on Sunday. The ACT has capacity to give about 1000 people a coronavirus vaccination in the first couple of weeks of the rollout. Ms Williams was among those eligible to get the vaccine in phase “1a” of the territory’s rollout, given she is a healthcare worker. The phase also includes quarantine and border workers, as well as residents and staff of aged care and disability care facilities. The ACT’s first jab coincided with first vaccinations in most states and territories across Australia, but the national rollout started on Sunday with 84-year-old aged care resident Jane Malysiak becoming the country’s first to get the jab at 11.09am. Ms Malysiak is a World War II survivor who grew up in Poland during the Depression and now lives in Sydney’s west. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also got the vaccine at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney’s north-west on Sunday morning, giving a “V for victory” sign and then a thumbs up after getting the jab. Mr Morrison afterwards said the vaccines addressed the risk of serious disease and widespread fatalities from COVID-19 in Australia, and would prevent scenarios seen in nations hit harder during the pandemic. “This vaccination means that we move further away from that every single day,” he said. “If you reduce, remove the level of serious risk of serious illness then you can begin to start managing this like you would any other virus in the community.” Chief medical officer Paul Kelly and the chief nursing officer Alison McMillan also received vaccinations on Sunday, as well as healthcare staff and other frontline workers including from the Australian Defence Force and Australian Border Force. The plan is for most Australians to be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by October this year. READ MORE: Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt also attended the Garran Surge Centre on Monday to witness the ACT’s first COVID-19 jab, as did territory Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith. Everyone who gets a Pfizer vaccine has to have a second dose of it at least two weeks after they got their first. More to come.
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A Canberra nurse has become the first person in the ACT to receive a COVID-19 jab.
Maddy Williams, 22, received the Pfizer vaccine on Monday morning at the Garran Surge Centre, which will now double as a coronavirus testing clinic and the ACT’s first vaccination hub.
Ms Williams, whose first nursing job was testing people for coronavirus at the facility, said she would be among staff administering the vaccine after she got the jab.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt asked her if it hurt. She said it was painless.
Fifty people in the ACT are expected to get the coronavirus vaccine at the Garran Surge Centre on Monday.
The territory’s first batch of the Pfizer vaccine arrived on Sunday. The ACT has capacity to give about 1000 people a coronavirus vaccination in the first couple of weeks of the rollout.
The ACT’s first jab coincided with first vaccinations in most states and territories across Australia, but the national rollout started on Sunday with 84-year-old aged care resident Jane Malysiak becoming the country’s first to get the jab at 11.09am.
Ms Malysiak is a World War II survivor who grew up in Poland during the Depression and now lives in Sydney’s west.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also got the vaccine at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney’s north-west on Sunday morning, giving a “V for victory” sign and then a thumbs up after getting the jab.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison makes the V for victory sign as Jane Malysiak, 84, gets the jab. Picture: Getty Images
Mr Morrison afterwards said the vaccines addressed the risk of serious disease and widespread fatalities from COVID-19 in Australia, and would prevent scenarios seen in nations hit harder during the pandemic.
“This vaccination means that we move further away from that every single day,” he said.
“If you reduce, remove the level of serious risk of serious illness then you can begin to start managing this like you would any other virus in the community.”
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly and the chief nursing officer Alison McMillan also received vaccinations on Sunday, as well as healthcare staff and other frontline workers including from the Australian Defence Force and Australian Border Force.
The plan is for most Australians to be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by October this year.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt also attended the Garran Surge Centre on Monday to witness the ACT’s first COVID-19 jab, as did territory Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith.
Everyone who gets a Pfizer vaccine has to have a second dose of it at least two weeks after they got their first.
