Council & Business
26 September, 2022
Free vaccinations headed to Talbot
The Central Goldfields Shire Council’s immunisation service is hosting a series of free vaccination sessions in Talbot to provide more opportunities for residents to stay up-to-date with their jabs. The four free sessions will take place at the...
The Central Goldfields Shire Council’s immunisation service is hosting a series of free vaccination sessions in Talbot to provide more opportunities for residents to stay up-to-date with their jabs.
The four free sessions will take place at the end of this month and continue through to December and offer every vaccine available, with the exception of COVID-19.
Central Goldfields Shire Council coordinator immunisation services Hannah Castles said the sessions in Talbot are a way to make the option of getting an up-to-date jab more accessible for residents.
“Our plan is to service a much broader range of community members rather than segregate out the service as it had been done before,” she said.
“Part of that was to make sure the service was as accessible as possible to everybody and since then, we’ve had a few immunisation sessions in Carisbrook.
“Our plan is to get out to Dunolly, Talbot, Bealiba — pretty much everywhere that’s got a population.”
Ms Castles said vaccination data showed that outlying towns in the shire, like Talbot, Dunolly and Bealiba had a lower immunisation rate compared to Maryborough.
“We don’t want to disadvantage any of our residents here,” she said.
“Even though we’re not a huge shire, there is still a difference between living in say Bealiba to Maryborough — there is a distance you have to travel to get your immunisations and petrol costs do play a factor in that.
“We do have some data that shows our outlying areas like Talbot, Bealiba and Dunolly are lower immunised than the shire as a whole and whether that’s personal choice or access, it’s really hard to know.
“We really wanted to make it as easy as possible for residents to access their vaccinations and that’s what these sessions are designed to do.
“If we can take away the access issue then that’s a step in the right direction.”
Ms Castles said the Talbot service would also complement existing services like GP clinics and pharmacies.
“We have access to all the vaccines except for COVID, so there’s really nothing that is not available whether you’re aged 75 and need a shingles vaccine or you have a two month old baby — we’ve got everything,” she said.
“We’re not trying to take away from other services like GPs and pharmacies that already provide vaccinations.
“This is very much us wanting to offer a complimentary option and take some of the burden off our healthcare services where we can.
“We’re free, you don’t need to see a GP for just a vaccination if you don’t need to so it’s one less job people have if they’re already run off their feet.”
The four free immunisation sessions will take place on Thursday, September 29 from 8.30 to 10 am at the Talbot ANA Hall, Wednesday, October 26 from 3 to 4.30 pm, Thursday, November 24 from 8 to 10 am and Wednesday, December 14 from 3 until 4.30 pm.
Bookings are preferred by contacting 0428 894 724, however walk in appointments are also available.