Kennington Primary School will become one of 15 pop-up vaccination clinics to open this weekend as part of a state-wide push to vaccinate as many children as possible before school heads back on Monday.
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State-run vaccination clinics will also accept walk-ups for the paediatric vaccine, with the state-run system expanding to include walk-up access for children aged 5 to 11.
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Since they childhood COVID-19 vaccinations began on January 10, vaccinations for the age group have been booking only, and walk-ups will be limited to select sites due to the added complexity of child immunisation and the need for specialist immunisers.
Limited initial walk-up locations for children will include Bendigo Health's Mollison Street Clinic, however bookings are strongly encourage.
Bendigo Health Public Health Unit Deputy Chief Medical Officer Daryl Kroschel said it was great to provide parents the opportunity to vaccinate their children prior to the school year starting.
"The Bendigo Health Public Health unit continues to embrace the opportunity to work with our community to vaccinate and protect each other from COVID-19," he said.
"Following on from our recent record breaking blitz, we are incredibly thankful for the sustained effort of our staff in maximising the number of people being vaccinated."
Bendigo Health chairman Bob Cameron said it was great for Kennington Primary School to be part of the state-wide initiative.
He said already, many parents in the region have responded highly to COVID-19 childhood vaccinations.
"It's fantastic to see such a strong response surrounding childhood vaccination and there is a lot of demand at the moment from the community," he said.
"This weekend will help take some of the pressure off the demand.
"The good thing is when people respond so well as central Victorians have, we are just not seeing the same problems that we are seeing elsewhere in Melbourne and other parts of the state."
To date, more than a third of children aged 5-11 in Victoria have already received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the pop-up clinics were about making sure families had every opportunity to get their children aged 5-11 vaccinated before Term 1 starts.
"The countdown to Term 1 is on - and if parents haven't organised to have their kids vaccinated yet, now's the time. We're making it easier than ever to get jabs in kids' arms in a friendly environment, close to home," he saiid.
"We've done everything we can to make school a safe place when kids get back in the classroom - but the best thing families can do to protect their children is get them protected by a vaccine as quickly as possible."
The vaccination outreach program for children and adults is being conducted this weekend at Kennington Primary School.
Hours include: Friday 28 January, 4pm - 8pm, Saturday 29 January, 8am - 3.30pm, Sunday 30 January, 8am - 3:30pm.
Bookings are recommended as there will be limited walk-in appointments available. Please register your interest via this link.
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