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THE state government will reopen its mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics to all people eligible under stage 1A and 1B of the vaccination program.
Health Minister Martin Foley said from Wednesday, three sites will reopen in the state.
They are the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Royal Exhibition Building, and the former Ford factory in Geelong.
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"We do this because our key aim is to get as many vaccines into as many arms as quickly and safely as we can," Mr Foley said. "That is the path to recovery.
"We're doing this program in partnership with our GPs and our primary healthcare providers because what we have picked up over the past few weeks, particularly following the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation program, is that there is a sense of urgency to get this program done.
"This is a key part of Victoria's recovery and Australia's recovery."
Residents who fall in the 1A and 1B categories will still be able to receive the vaccine from their GP clinic.
From Wednesday, the state government will also lift the pause on the administration of AstraZeneca to eligible people under the age of 50 who choose to receive this vaccine.
Earlier
THERE have been zero new COVID-19 cases recorded in the Victorian community for the 51st consecutive day.
The latest data from the Department of Health also showed zero new infections acquired overseas and interstate.
The total number of active cases in the state is holding steady at 10. All are overseas acquired cases currently in hotel quarantine.
There were 8658 coronavirus test results received in the past 24 hours.
Another 445 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday.
It came as viral coronavirus fragments were recently detected in wastewater in Melbourne's south-east and a large catchment that services suburbs in Melbourne's north, west, and east.
The unexpected detections could be from a person or people with COVID-19 being in the early active infectious phase or it could be because they are continuing to shed the virus after the infectious period.
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People who live in or have visited the following areas should monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested if any develop:
- North, west, and eastern suburbs from April 4 to 12. This detection is in a very large catchment that services suburbs stretching from Melbourne's north-west to the outer north-east.
- Cranbourne and surrounding suburbs from April 6 to 12.
These two new detections are in addition to the wastewater detection in the Ringwood area catchment announced on Monday.
To find out whether you live in or have visited one of these suburbs, you can check the map at dhhs.vic.gov.au/wastewater-testing-covid-19
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