Covid clinic booked out

•  Tim Jacobson offers an arm to registered nurse immuniser Anna McGovern for his Phizer vaccination.

By Tony Scott,
July 07, 2021

A community Covid clinic for Pfizer vaccinations in Scottsdale was booked out on Sunday and Monday.

The jabs for 40 to 59 years olds were administered to about 350 people in the two sessions.

Clinical nurse consultant Hamish McGovern said the demand for vaccinations had resulted in people travelling from throughout the State because of difficulty getting in to clinics closer to their home base.

“There’s only been a handful or so of people from south of Hobart and from the North West, but it shows the demand for getting the vaccine.”

He was unaware of local people being turned away or unable to make a booking on line.

One of those queueing for a needle was Scottsdale businessman Tim Jacobson, who said immediately afterwards he didn’t even feel the jab happen.

“I’ve had a blood test for cholesterol and that doesn’t hurt either, but you notice when it happens.

“I don’t think I’m in any danger of catching Coronavirus, but the sooner we all get vaccinated the better.

“I’m doing it for my country, so we can all get back to something like normal,” Mr Jacobson said.

The clinic for the repeat of Pfizer inoculations is expected to be held over a Sunday and Monday again in three weeks, but has yet to be confirmed.

There’s also no indication if the first-shot clinic will be repeated or when.

Mr McGovern said the logistics of venues and staffing were determining how vaccines were being rolled out rather than supply.  

The repeat of the AstraZeneca clinic from a week earlier for those aged over 60 will not be held until late September.

There were fewer than 120 recipients for AstraZeneca, probably explained by the fact that the vaccine strain has been available for the same age group from the private Ochre Health centre for several weeks.