Health Minister Roger Cook says storage issues with Pfizer vaccine won’t delay Geraldton roll out

Health Minister Roger Cook says COVID-19 vaccinations for Geraldton’s high-risk workers will start on March 15, whether or not the Pfizer vaccine is available. He said his department planned to use both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines at a vaccination hub at Geraldton Hospital. “We still don’t have access to the fridges which the Commonwealth will be providing as part of the national network of vaccination hubs,” he said. “So we can’t actually start the Pfizer roll out here until we get those fridges.” However Mr Cook said early supplies of the AstraZeneca product which arrived in WA on Tuesday meant vaccinations could start much earlier than expected. If the Pfizer vaccine was ready, he said they would use it in Geraldton to vaccinate workers in airports, Geraldton Port, high risk health care, and people living and working in disability and aged care. This group of people, known as 1A, would probably have to be vaccinated at the Geraldton hospital as the Pfizer vaccine was difficult to transport. Mr Cook said the vaccination hub at Geraldton Hospital would also be used to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine to regional hospitals throughout the Mid West. This would initially be available for the “1B cohort” which included other health care workers, people over 70, Indigenous Australians over 55, and adults with an underlying medical condition. It also includes critical and high risk workers in areas such as defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing. “We’ll also be taking the opportunity to roll out the vaccination program to our country based aged care facilities which we are responsible for in relation to the national program,” he said. Mr Cook said vaccinations had already commenced at the Bunbury vaccination hub on Tuesday. He was in Geraldton on Wednesday. While here, Mr Cook held doorstop meetings to talk about two election promises already announced. These included $2 million for a feasibility study to relocate St John of God Hospital to the Geraldton Health Campus, and $4.3 million for new cycle ways to link up Geraldton’s existing coastal bike paths. He also promised $26,000 for a new driver training car to be use by MEEDAC, and $24,500 to Geraldton’s Access to Leisure and Sport (ATLAS) program for people with disabilities. This is to be used to buy kayaks, all-terrain wheelchairs, portable toilet and shower wheelchairs and bed transfer equipment.