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23 FEBRUARY, 2021
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GromSearch in Tullamarine
(Suppled)
The Rip Curl GromSearch national final will swap the open ocean for man-made waves in Tullamarine this year. The country’s top junior surfers will be riding the waves in URBNSURF’S artificial wave park next month as they compete for the title of GromSearch National Champion. Surfing Victoria chief executive Adam Robertson said the organisation was “stoked” to be hosting the event at URBNSURF. The GromSearch will feature a new wave designed specifically for the event, which URBNSURF says is one of the most high-performance waves capable of being produced. URBNSURF brand and marketing manager Rupert Partridge said the manufactured waves will make talent the focus. “Taking out the uncontrolled element [of the ocean] will show the technique, ability and skills of surfers, side by side on the same wave,” Mr Partridge said. The GromSearch National Final will be on March 15. Michaela Meade
Vaccine snub anger By Michaela Meade and Jessica Micallef Aged care residents in Whittlesea and Hume will need to wait at least one more week before receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, with all aged care homes in both municipalities left off the week one vaccination schedule. The federal government last week announced the location of the aged care centres that would receive the vaccine first. The national roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine began yesterday. Epping Gardens Aged Care, which recorded the third highest number of cases among aged care centres during Victoria’s second wave, has not been scheduled to receive the vaccine this week.
‘‘
I saw 20 of my friends die last year and that’s why I am so wild
’’
- Jack Ogilvie
The centre was linked to 240 cases and 38 deaths. Residents, their families and staff have launched a class action against the operators of Epping Gardens, Heritage Care, over their “failure” to protect residents from COVID-19. Former Hume mayor and Japara Goonawarra Aged Care resident Jack Ogilvie has called for the government to review the
roll-out and prioritise aged care homes that had a high number of cases and deaths. “Most of the deaths in Victoria were in nursing homes in the metropolitan area. I can’t figure out why we weren’t first,” he said. “I saw 20 of my friends die last year and that’s why I am so wild. “We have been through it and we got out in the end but 20 friends didn’t. “There are places in the regions that hardly had any COVID and they are getting the vaccination before us.” Western suburbs Labor MP Brendan O’Connor questioned why suburbs which had some of the highest coronavirus infections in the country had not been included in the first location for the vaccine roll-out.
Health department secretary Brendan Murphy last week said the selection of facilities for the roll-out is a “complex logistic exercise”. “We do not have community transmission, so there is no burning platform. It’s perfectly safe to take four of five weeks to vaccinate all of the aged care residents,” he said. “The logistics teams have planned a very detailed logistics plan … to get distribution across the country, and a schedule where they can move from one site to another.” Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said vaccinations would be done in “clusters defined geographically to make sure that we have the most effective distribution”. Mr Hunt said a vaccination hub would be set up at Austin Health.
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