As a nurse in local hospital emergency department, Janine (not her real name), knows that she will be expected to get Covid-19 vaccination when it’s made available here soon.

She, along with other health care workers in hospitals and aged care facilities will be first in line to get the new vaccines – as outlined in the government’s COVID-19 Vaccine National Roll-out Strategy

The Lismore App asked some of our local nurses and health care workers what they thought about vaccinations. We also asked local organisation Healthy North Coast (HNC) for more details about their rollout of the Covid vaccination program in our area. Read more about the rollout

Wary

Emergency nurse Janine said she is “a little wary” of getting the new Covid vaccination.

“A lot of health care workers are worried and don’t want to be guinea pigs for the new vaccines,” she said. “As an emergency nurse, I will be expected to get it, but I’m not jumping to be the first line.

“I’m not an anti vaxxer - I get the mandatory flu shot each year for my job - but I’m not dying to get the vaccination.

“I was thinking it was an experimental vaccine, but a doctor explained it to us and I wasn’t so worried.

“If its mandatory I’ll do it, but if there’s a choice, I’d rather keep wearing a mask. I wear a mask all the time now anyway - it’s annoying but necessary.

“Even though there’s no Covid in our area now, this pandemic is going to be hanging around for a while and it’s not going to stop when everyone starts travelling the world again.

"We might have to wear masks for a very long time.”

Which vaccine will we get?

When asked if local health workers would be offered the AstraZeneca (AZ) or Pfizer vaccine, HNC spokesperson Mike Hely said Australia has three purchasing agreements in place for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, and they would only go ahead if they are proven to be safe and effective by the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA).

“It is possible that multiple COVID-19 vaccines will be used in Australia if the vaccines are proven to be safe and effective, and as they become available,” Mike said.

Earlier this week, the TGA granted provisional approval to Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd for its COVID-19 vaccine, COMIRNATY. Read more about it.

How many vaccines doses we will get, who will administer them and will they be free of charge? 

HNC spokesperson Mike Hely said “we are still not sure how many doses of the vaccine will be allocated to our region in the first roll-out”.

“The goal and the expectation is that everyone living on the North Coast who seeks vaccination will be vaccinated,” he said.

“An Expression of Interest has been already extended to all accredited general practices and pharmacists interested in taking a lead role in the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

“Primary care services who take a role in administering vaccines will be required to provide COVID-19 vaccination at no cost to patients who are Australian citizens, permanent residents, and most visa-holders.”

Difficulty

Emergency nurse Janine worries about the AstraZeneca vaccine being the one chosen for rollout in our area, as it needs to be kept at a very cold temperature in order to remain viable.

“We’ve been told we can only have them out of the fridge for two minutes maximum before it gets used,” she said. “It won’t be easy for the clinics to rollout and administer vaccine to people."

Janine said her elderly uncle had the flu vaccination and wasn’t well after he had it – highlighting community concerns about the potential bad reactions effect of a new Covid vaccine.

“In Norway, the Covid vaccine caused some nasty side effects and some people had diarrhea and vomiting,” she said. “It’s possible some elderly people might not cope with it.

“If everyone else around them had the vaccination and they were not going anywhere, why would you take the risk of vaccinating them?”

Monitoring effectiveness

When asked how the effectiveness of the different vaccines will be monitored after community concerns were raised about lesser effectiveness of the AZ vaccine, Mike said “the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance is better placed to answer this question”.

“It has a COVID-19 vaccine FAQ resource which discusses vaccine efficacy and safety as well as monitoring and surveillance,” he said.

Aged care worker “not afraid”

Lismore resident Henry Luong is a nurse working in aged care and he said he’s not afraid of getting the new Covid vaccination.

“My family overseas are worried about me getting the first jab, but I say it’s a 50/50 chance of being okay,” Henry said.

“It’s a new vaccine, so I could be afraid of it, but there’s hope in it. At least we can do something and its more practical to get the jab and know we can protect the frail people.

“That’s the purpose of working in the health sector.

“I understand people are worried about their loved ones in aged care facilities or hospital - but if we have the jab, the government also needs to encourage people to get tested more.

“Some people are afraid to get tested and worried they will miss out on work while they isolate and wait for the results to come back.

“It’s a hard situation - even social distancing is not practical, when you can go to Lismore Square and it’s crowded.

"I see people coughing in public and touching food and groceries. To me, people who feel they are sick should wear a mask or stay home."