A chapter in the story of the COVID pandemic locally is about to end, with Bass Coast Health to close its COVID Testing Drive-through and Community Vaccination Clinic in response to decreasing community demand and in line with other health services across the state.
Through a comprehensive testing program, Bass Coast Health staff conducted 68,554 COVID tests at Wonthaggi and Cowes and at various pop up sites at Bass and San Remo, and all of these tests have been instrumental in helping people isolate quickly to reduce spread. There is no doubt that this has reduced the number and severity of outbreaks in our community and we are grateful that so many people heeded the call to be tested.
As part of one of the biggest vaccination efforts in recent history, Bass Coast reached the 5th highest vaccination levels early in the COVID race, and have been able to ensure more than 95 per cent of the eligible population in Bass Coast Shire has been vaccinated with two doses, thereby giving them the best protection possible against severe illness and the best chance of not spreading the virus to others. Since the Community Vaccination Clinic at the Wonthaggi Town Hall opened in June 2021, staff have administered 46,695 COVID vaccines.
The last day of the Community Vaccination Clinic at Wonthaggi Town Hall will be Monday 16 May. BCH personnel will finish staffing the clinic this Saturday 7 May, with staff from Latrobe Regional Hospital providing walk-in vaccinations on Monday 9 May from 10.30am to 3.30pm and Monday 16 May from 10am to 12pm (closed all other days).
COVID testing at the former McBride Campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College will end at 1pm Saturday 14 May.
Bass Coast Health CEO Jan Child said the time is right and it is now time for the health service to focus its resources on core services.
“We are proud of the extensive testing and vaccination services we have offered the community throughout the two years of the pandemic so far,” she said.
“These testing and vaccination efforts have ensured our region had high screening and vaccination rates which significantly reduced community transmission of COVID-19.
“We give credit for the extraordinary testing and vaccination effort by our magnificent staff who have worked so hard to keep our community safe. They have been true frontline heroes whose teamwork, along with compassion and excellence, demonstrated everything our values represent.
“We are speaking with all individual staff members and linking them to opportunities within Bass Coast Health. These excellent staff are our most valuable asset and we hope many of them will stay with us in other roles.”
CEO Jan Child reflects that should the need arise Bass Coast Health has proven it can respond quickly for our community.
“It is extremely important to acknowledge that our ability to transition both these services now, to the primary health sector, is possible because the demand for these services is low. Of course, if the Department of Health ever sees a need for state run clinics to bolster the primary care sector again, we will do a call to arms.”
Most importantly, the CEO signalled that it was still critically important to get tested and to get vaccinated.
“We are not by any means out of this Pandemic. We are just coming down from a peak of a significant surge, and sadly, we anticipate others. We will always advocate that people take the advice of the experts with regard to vaccination, and keep themselves optimally vaccinated, and we encourage people to test.”
To that end, we are pleased to note the following arrangements that will apply to support vaccination and testing locally:
Vaccinations
• COVID vaccinations will continue to be available at GP clinics, six Gippsland Respiratory Clinics and participating pharmacies by appointment.
• The Gippsland Region Public Health Unit will continue to ensure the community has access to COVID vaccinations. The mobile COVID vaccination bus, Chitty Chitty Jab Jab, will also provide outreach vaccination opportunities throughout the Gippsland region.
Testing
• Wonthaggi Medical Group have run their Respiratory Clinic since the beginning of the Pandemic and will continue to provide symptomatic testing and treatment at their clinic where appointments are available via their website or on 0429 036 568
• COVID RAT tests will be available from Wonthaggi Hospital from Monday 16 May with the details still to be confirmed
• RAT tests are also available at most pharmacists (free for pensioners), at schools for students, as well as select service stations and supermarkets
• RAT tests will continue to be available via the Annex to the Phillip Island Health Hub
9:30am – 11:30am, Mondays and Thursdays.
We acknowledge our many partners that have made our testing and vaccinations efforts possible including the Education Department for the use of the former McBride Campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College, Shadow Security and Event Ops for their tireless efforts standing alongside our staff at both services, Gippsland Region Public Health Unit for their support and guidance, and Bass Coast Shire Council for providing access to the Town Hall.