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Important Media Release

MEDIA RELEASE

From today, the North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) will temporarily pause its outreach COVID-19 vaccination clinics due to an exciting new development for residents of the North West region.

NWHHS acting Chief Executive Dr Karen Murphy said the Chief Health Officer has announced the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination will made available to all hospitals and health services, and this is to include the North West from early May, after confirmation late yesterday.

“Urgent planning is now currently underway to be in a position to offer NWHHS communities the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination from mid-May” Dr Murphy said.

“While the risks of side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine is extremely low and the vaccine will still be offered to anyone where the benefit of vaccination outweighs the risk, we will be pausing the outreach clinics until the Pfizer vaccine is available to us enabling us to offer both vaccines across our region.

“Offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination to our NWHHS remote communities will result in a quicker roll-out of the vaccine, with a shorter interval between the second dose. The recommended interval between doses for the Pfizer vaccine is three weeks and 12 weeks for the AstraZeneca vaccine. By taking the time to plan the newest phase of our roll-out, all our communities will be fully vaccinated sooner.”

People who have received the 1st AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination will still be receiving a second dose through an NWHHS planned clinic, as before. The Mount Isa COVID-19 vaccination clinic will continue to operate, offering, at this stage, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination to eligible persons.

The NWHHS will continue to keep our communities and key stakeholders informed of any changes made to the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out program. A revised schedule for the NWHHS COVID-19 vaccine roll-out will be released as soon as delivery of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is confirmed.

Ends
Media contact:
Jasmine Barber
Manager Public Relations
P: 0437 695 799
E: Jasmine.Barber@health.qld.gov.au

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