How NSW residents aged 16 to 39 can book in for a Pfizer jab TODAY if they live in Sydney's Covid-ravaged west after the government secured 500,000 extra doses
NSW residents aged 16-39 will be able to book in for a Pfizer vaccine from today after the government secured over half a million extra doses of the jab.
Those who live in the 12 LGAs of concern in Sydney's Covid-hit west and southwest will be given priority access to 530,000 Pfizer doses at a number of NSW Health clinics from 9am on Wednesday.
Over the next two weeks residents will be invited to book in at one of ten participating government clinics to receive two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
NSW residents aged 16-39 who live in Sydney's 12 LGA's of concern will be able to book in to receive two of the 530,000 extra Pfizer doses secured by the federal government (pictured, a woman received a vaccine at a clinic in Lakemba)
The vaccination blitz will target residents aged between 16-39 years who are believed to be driving the spread of the virus through the city's Covid-hit west and south west due to their mobility in the community (pictured, health care workers at Perth Airport on Monday)
Those who are eligible for the jab must be aged between 16-39 years of age and reside in Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith or Strathfield.
The vaccination blitz targeting young people in Sydney's worst Covid-hit areas is designed to drive down transmission in those hotspots.
The 12 LGAs of concern
The 12 local government areas where the majority of the Pfizer vaccines will be administered are:
Bayside
Blacktown
Burwood
Campbelltown
Canterbury-Bankstown
Cumberland
Fairfield
Georges River
Liverpool
Parramatta
Penrith
Strathfield
'We know there are several hundred thousand people in these LGAs who are unvaccinated in this age group, and this is a great opportunity for them to come forward and get their jab,' NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said in a statement on Wednesday.
'We're doing everything we can to get doses into arms and I'd like to thank our local health districts for their mammoth effort.'
The additional doses were sent to Australia from Poland after negotiations with the Eastern European country to take surplus doses off its hands.
While 530,000 of the one million extra jabs will be fast-tracked to Sydney's 12 LGA's of concern, the rest will be allocated to states and territories on a per capita basis.
About 175,000 of the doses will be sent to Victoria, where Melbourne is in its sixth lockdown with case numbers continuing to balloon, including 24 on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the current outbreak in NSW was a 'key factor' in Poland's decision to part ways with the extra jabs.
The entire state of NSW is locked down with tight restrictions but authorities are concerned that 70 per cent of transmission is occurring in homes.
The likelihood of household transmission is reduced by about 50 per cent by three to four weeks after vaccination.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said those aged between 16-39 years of age would be targeted to receive the jabs because of how active they were in their communities.
'They are the ones that are mobile because of their work. They are the ones who cross three generations, and they are ones who were part of the 70 per cent of cases we are currently experiencing in those most problematic areas,' she said.
NSW Health administered a record 36,817 Covid-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday with the state aiming for six million by the end of the month (pictured, queues for Covid-19 vaccines at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday)
WHERE YOU CAN BOOK IN TO GET A PFIZER VACCINE TODAY
Residents aged 16-39 in the 12 LGA's of concern will be able to book appointments for two doses of the Pfizer vaccine from 9am on Wednesday at nsw.gov.au for the following clinics:
Bankstown Vaccination clinic, Bankstown PCYC, Cnr French Ave &, Meredith St
Bayside Vaccination clinic, Novotel Brighton-Le-Sands, Cnr Grand Pde and, Princess St
Liverpool Vaccination clinic, Ngara Education Centre, (via Governor Macquarie Drive), 52 Scrivener St , Warwick Farm
NSW Health Vaccination Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, 1 Figtree Drive, Sydney Olympic Park
Prairiewood Vaccination clinic, Prairiewood Youth and Community Centre 194-222 Restwell Rd Prairiewood
Penrith Vaccination Clinic, Penrith Panthers Rugby League Club, 123 Mulgoa Rd, Penrith
Qudos Bank Arena NSW Health Vaccination Centre, 19 Edwin Flack Ave, Sydney Olympic Park
Sonic Healthcare Vaccination Clinic, Hurstville, Hurstville Aquatic Leisure Centre, King Georges Rd &, Forest Rd, Hurstville
Sonic Healthcare Vaccination Clinic, Sydney CBD, 175 Pitt Street Sydney
South Western Sydney Vaccination Centre, Glenquarie Town Centre, Corner Victoria Rd and Brooks Street, Macquarie Fields
Source: NSW Health
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant echoed the premier's sentiments and said the younger generations were predominantly driving the spread of the virus.
'Those younger people are the ones who are going out and working on disability homes, aged care homes, childcare, logistics, freight,' Dr Chant said.
'And so this will be an intense effort to get one dose of vaccine into that group as quickly as possible.'
According to Australian government figures, as at August 15, 26.2 per cent of Australians aged 16 or over are fully vaccinated and 48 per cent have had at least one dose.
NSW leads the way with 5,237,678 jabs administered, ahead of Victoria, where just under four million have been jabbed.
NSW Health administered a record 36,817 Covid-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday with the state aiming for six million jabs in arms by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Deputy Premier John Barilaro says the government is ramping up vaccination efforts in western NSW with 116 Covid cases there and concerns about vulnerable Indigenous communities.
NSW Health administered a record 36,817 Covid-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday (pictured, a woman receives a Pfizer vaccine in Brisbane last week)
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the NSW government was ramping-up efforts to vaccinate residents in western NSW with 116 active cases of Covid-19 there
The Royal Flying Doctor Service and ADF troops are working with NSW Health to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible at pop-up clinics.
'It is already in those communities and this is what is concerning us,' he told the Nine Network on Wednesday.
'The mobility in those communities, the shared homes, the houses, we know that with Delta most of the infection is happening in somebody's home or visiting somebody.
'I expect it to spike and I expect it to continue to be a problem and that is why we locked down all of regional and rural New South Wales because it was the only way we could contain this,' he said.
Mr Barilaro admitted that mistakes had been made with the Sydney lockdown that began eight weeks ago.
'Well, look, I think if you can rewrite history we could have gone harder.
'It wasn't that we didn't do it hard and fast, but the Delta strain has escaped us. We don't want the same in the bush,' he said.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 5,237,678 with Gladys Berejiklian saying the state was 'tracking well' to hit six million by the end of the month
Meanwhile, NSW Health has tried to clear up confusion about whether people are allowed to visit cemeteries with some now closed for graveside visits.
Under the public health order, cemeteries are not required to close and attending a funeral or memorial service is a reasonable excuse to leave home, with a maximum of 10 people allowed to attend in Greater Sydney.
A NSW Health spokesperson said people were also permitted to leave home for compassionate reasons.
'In certain circumstances, such as an anniversary of a dead child, or where a close family member has recently died, visiting a gravesite would be considered compassionate,' the spokesperson said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has acknowledged hospitals are 'under enormous pressure' as the outbreak that has locked down Sydney for nearly eight weeks worsens.
Nationally, NSW is leading the way with 5,237,678 jabs administered, ahead of Victoria, where just under four million have been jabbed (pictured, an AstraZecenca vaccine)
The Royal Flying Doctor Service and ADF troops are working with NSW Health to jab as many people as quickly as possible at pop-up clinics in an effort to boost vaccination rates (pictured, a testing location in West Dubbo)
But he insisted that overall the system was 'still extraordinarily good'.
BreastScreen NSW announced on Tuesday it would suspend all routine breast screening across NSW because of the outbreak.
NSW reported 452 new local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, and the death of a woman in her 70s.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the case numbers would get worse and that September and October would be 'our most difficult months'.
A number of schools have been forced to close in recent days because of outbreaks.