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Loddon HERALD Vol 1 No 6 THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
FIRST VACCINE Aged care residents receive their ‘jab’ By CHRIS EARL THE first 42 injections of Pfizer vaccine have been given in the Loddon. Inglewood District Health Services received its initial allocation within hours of the COVID-19 vaccine arriving in Bendigo on Monday. A specialist team from Bendigo Health gave injections to 27 Loddon aged care residents and 15 staff that afternoon. The team will make weekly visits to Inglewood as part of the state-wide rollout with Health Minister Martin Foley telling the Loddon Herald that all public aged care residents were scheduled to receive the vaccine this month. IDHS chief executive office Tracey Wilson said: “We’re the first spoke (from Bendigo hub) for the rollout.” Aged care residents in other areas, including Boort, are expected to receive the first dose of the vaccine shortly. Staff living in Bendigo were encouraged to receive the vaccine there, increasing available doses for Loddon aged care residents, Ms Wilson said.
IT’S WONDERFUL: Bendigo Health’s Kirsten Butler and IDHS’s Daryl Rowley prepare to vaccinate Eily Hayes. LH PHOTO Among the first to receive the vaccine on Monday was Eily Hayes, 94. Eily has been a resident at IDHS for a year. During COVID restrictions, Eily has been knitting mask clips for staff. After receiving the injection, Eily said: “I didn’t feel a thing. It’s wonderful although I am glad it’s over.” Ms Wilson said although there had been few COVID cases in the Loddon, systems and process had been in place and families of residents had been “incredibly supportive throughout.”
Foley hints at more rural stimulus VICTORIAN Health Minister Martin Foley has hinted that the Government’s May Budget could include additional stimulus measures for rural regions. Speaking with the Loddon Herald at Sunday’s Boort Trotting Club Cups Meeting, Mr Foley said Tourism Minister Martin Parkula was working on a series of fur-
ther packages for regions and specific areas of Victoria. He acknowledged there was still a long way to go in the economic recovery following restrictions to combat COVID-19, including the recent five-day snap lockdown for the entire state. Mr Foley said that the ”circuit breaker“ lockdown had worked and defended includ-
ing rural areas of Victoria in the lockdown rather than bringing back the ring of steel around Melbourme. He said there had been instances of people in regional Victoria, including Bendigo, within the contact network of recent COVID cases.
Praise for Loddon’s health collaboration - Page 3