Goya Dmytryshchak
An Altona North clinic on Thursday became the first GP practice in Melbourne’s west to administer the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine.
The Altona North Respiratory Clinic was expected to vaccinate 120 people with Pfizer on Thursday.
The federal government has released an extra 130,000 COVID-19 vaccines statewide.
There will be an immediate release of 40,000 doses this week and an extra 15,000 doses each week for six weeks.
The Altona North clinic’s partner and Australian Medical Association state council chairman, Mukesh Haikerwal, said the pilot aimed to empower more GPs to administer vaccines closer to home.
“The state has decided to give access to everybody 40-49 without any questions to Pfizer so that’s a good thing.
“We’re also helping the state to see how that works in the general practice setting, not in the hospital or a hub – the mass vaccine setting – alone.
“It’s about trial and seeing if we can empower general practice to do more of this so people can have their vaccines nearer to home rather than having to go queue up for hours at a mass hub.”
