Michaela Meade
A walk-up Moderna vaccine blitz will be held in South Morang, Campbellfield and Bundoora next week in a bid to prevent a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases, according to the state government.
It comes as Premier Daniel Andrews this morning confirmed that a man in his 80s from Hume was one of three people with COVID-19 in die in the past 24 hours.
The walk-up blitz will be held at the Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre (PRACC) in South Morang, the former Ford factory in Campbellfield and La Trobe University in Bundoora from Monday, October 4 to Sunday, October 10.
The blitz comes as Mr Andrews set a “critically important” deadline for authorised workers to get their first dose of vaccine.
He said that workers classified as authorised under current restrictions would be required to have received at least their first dose of any of the three available COVID-19 vaccines by Friday, October 15.
Mr Andrews said vaccination was the “best defence” against more pressure being put on healthcare workers.
“All of our health workers are working their guts out to be there for us and they need us all to do our bit and get vaccinated, so we can continue on our pathway to opening,” Mr Andrews said.
Health department deputy secretary Naomi Bromley confirmed that of the 1143 new locally acquired cases recorded in the past 24 hours, there were 243 recorded in Hume, and 83 in Whittlesea.
Ms Bromley also announced that year 12 students in priority areas, including in Hume and Whittlesea, were “strongly encouraged” by the government to get tested the week before they sit the General Achievement Test (GAT).
“We’re really keen to ensure that the GAT can be conducted as safely as possible,” she said.
“This is a really important step to ensuring that.”
Ms Bromley said there are steps in place to give the students priority testing.
