The federal government has begun contacting Canberra's residential aged care facilities ahead of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, telling them to get the consent of staff and residents before dates are set.
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Federal ministers Greg Hunt and Richard Colbeck on Tuesday announced Pfizer vaccine would be rolled out to aged care facilities across Australia over about six weeks, starting from next week.
In the first week of the rollout, the ministers expected staff and residents at more than 240 facilities to get vaccinated.
Multiple aged care facilities in Canberra said that, by Tuesday afternoon, they'd received a call from the government flagging the impending rollout.
Managing director of Johnson Village Services Gary Johnson said he would be pleased if the Narrabundah facility Jindalee Aged Care Residence made the cut for the first week, but if not, he'd understand.
"We've got an excellent COVID plan and we're very mindful of maintaining our plan going forward," he said.
Canberra Aged Care Facility director Clayton Hutchinson got a call from the government a few hours after other facilities got theirs.
He said a government contact told him to expect an email in the coming days that would explain how to get staff and residents' consent to get the Pfizer vaccine.
Mr Hutchinson said the contact told him that, following the consent process, they would talk dates and times for the vaccine rollout to happen.
Mr Hunt and Mr Colbeck on Tuesday said Aspen Medical would get together a workforce to administer the vaccine at ACT aged care facilities.
Mr Hutchinson said getting the vaccine was voluntary at Canberra Aged Care Facility, so the consent process would help inform numbers.
He said that while the government contact did give him those small details about the rollout, the information wasn't nearly enough so close to its start date.
Residents and staff in the ACT's aged care facilities fall under "phase 1a" of the territory government's vaccine rollout plan, which starts next week.
But the federal government is handling the aged care side of things nationally.
"I think they're cutting it fine - I think they've been cutting it fine for the last 12 months," Mr Hutchinson said.
"To put it in perspective, we got our first COVID plan in Canberra for aged care in October.
"We still have no idea what's happening, we don't have a roster, they haven't made their plan public."
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The ministers said home and community aged care workers and recipients would get their jabs out in the community, and would receive more information shortly.
Cassandra Morgan
It has never been more important for Canberrans to be able to access reliable and accurate information about health. As The Canberra Times’ health reporter, I am committed to ensuring our readers have access to this. I, like many in the territory, have family members who work in the sector. Although providing comprehensive coverage on the coronavirus pandemic is obviously my number one priority, I aim to frequently shed light on the fantastic work our frontline professionals do, as well as the challenges they face. Email me tips and story ideas at: c.morgan@canberratimes.com.au.
It has never been more important for Canberrans to be able to access reliable and accurate information about health. As The Canberra Times’ health reporter, I am committed to ensuring our readers have access to this. I, like many in the territory, have family members who work in the sector. Although providing comprehensive coverage on the coronavirus pandemic is obviously my number one priority, I aim to frequently shed light on the fantastic work our frontline professionals do, as well as the challenges they face. Email me tips and story ideas at: c.morgan@canberratimes.com.au.
