Media release – Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, State Health Commander, 17 March 2021

COVID-19 vaccination rollout

In relation to Tasmania’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout, the message for Tasmanians today is to please be patient and wait for your GP or a State vaccination clinic to be announced near you.

GP clinics and State vaccination clinics will be progressively published on the Federal Government’s vaccine clinic finder covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility from today, and participating GPs will be contacting their eligible patients to book vaccinations.

If you are not an existing patient of a GP clinic on the list, please do not call other GPs on the list. Other GPs will be coming on line and State vaccination clinics are being rolled out to your local government area. These will be announced over coming weeks.

As we’ve always said, the vaccination roll-out will progress steadily as the number of GP and State vaccination clinics around Tasmania increase over coming weeks. A first group of GP clinics have been added to the Federal Government’s vaccine clinic finder today, with more to come as clinics continue to prepare.

It is important to remember that 180,000 Tasmanians fall into Phase 1B of the vaccination rollout and this phase is expected to take several months. Not everyone can be vaccinated in the first week and GPs have a significant task ahead of them to service their own patient lists first using the vaccine they receive.

Participating GP clinics will be contacting their patients to arrange bookings, and more GPs will be added as Phase 1B progresses.

The first of these will be opening next week at Kingston, Brighton, New Norfolk and Launceston. Booking arrangements for these State vaccination clinics will be communicated soon.

GP Respiratory Clinics are also vaccinating and they will be available for bookings in coming weeks.

When a clinic close to you is announced and is ready to provide vaccinations, this will be communicated by participating GPs or the Tasmanian Government in the case of State vaccination clinics.

It is important that before you try to book a vaccination that you check whether you are eligible for one. The Federal Government has today launched its COVID-19 Vaccination Eligibility Checker and the National Service Finder system at covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility.

Phase 1B is due to commence on Friday 19 March 2021 with the first State AstraZeneca Vaccination Clinic at the Mersey Community Hospital. This clinic is prioritising healthcare workers and they will be contacted directly.

Joint statement – AMA and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, 17 March 2021

CLARITY NEEDED ON COVID-19 VACCINE ROLLOUT PROCESS

The influx of patients seeking to make bookings for COVID-19 vaccinations is encouraging, but the Government must urgently clarify the booking process for patients to help them better understand the process, Australia’s peak GP bodies said today.

General practices have been inundated with calls and online booking ahead of the beginning of the Phase 1b rollout of vaccines through GPs.

“Based on the volume of calls GPs have already received today, it’s good to see that the community is confident and wants to access a COVID-19 vaccination,” AMA President, Dr Omar Khorshid, said.

“However, it’s clear the Government needs to make it easy for patients and General Practices alike to manage bookings for COVID-19 vaccinations and be clear about how long patients may have to wait before they can get an appointment.

“The rollout of the vaccine is a huge logistical challenge that is constrained by the available supply of vaccines. This means the rollout of the vaccine in general practice will start slowly and then build over time.

“Unlike the flu season, where 15 million doses are already stockpiled, this rollout relies on a weekly supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses that is capped. This means that general practices will have only a modest number of doses available for patients for now.

“GPs will be following strict priority criteria to ensure that vaccines are prioritised towards those who need it most. This is a time for patience for everyone involved.”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) President, Dr Karen Price, said that general practice is the backbone of vaccination arrangements in Australia, but not enough had been done by the Government to communicate with patients about the rollout process.

“Next week, 1100 general practices across Australia will commence vaccinating patients against COVID-19, starting with priority patient populations,” Dr Price said.

“Over time, the supply of vaccines will increase, as will the number of places where a patient can access a vaccine. GPs have responded in large numbers to the Government’s call to help vaccinate the community, with around 4600 general practices to be progressively incorporated into the vaccine rollout over the next four weeks.

“However, it’s clear from the calls many general practices have received this morning that the Government needs to better communicate with the community on the vaccine rollout process, and not build unrealistic expectations, particularly at this early stage.

“Many practices will already be going through their patient records to identify who is eligible and will reach out to their usual patients to organise an appointment.

“While it may be frustrating for some patients that they can’t get an appointment now, more will become available as the rollout progresses.”