Vax and the City: Every public health official in Australia agrees that mass vaccination is the only way out of this crisis. We at Time Out recommend that you get vaccinated as soon as you can, if that is appropriate for your own health. Please speak to a medical professional about what is right for you. Here's what you need to know about how to get a vaccine right now.
This week Victorians will have access to a third extremely effective vaccine to protect themselves and their communities against Covid-19, as hundreds of pharmacies in the state receive their first shipment of Moderna. The vaccine is available for all Victorians aged 12 to 59, and it is being distributed at community pharmacies.
There will be 300,000 Moderna vaccine appointments available this month, with even more spots available in October and November. You can book an appointment for either a Moderna or an AstraZeneca vaccine at findapharmacy.com.au. Some 440 pharmacies in Victoria will get Moderna this week, with 281 getting their first shipments of Moderna next week.
Like Pfizer, the Moderna vaccine is an mRNA vaccine. It is also a two-dose vaccine, with a recommended two- to four-week gap between doses. It has been approved for children over age 12, for pregnant people, people breastfeeding, and those who are trying to conceive.
In Victoria, only state-run clinics (and some GP clinics) offer the Pfizer vaccine, with community pharmacies now able to offer the other two. But as premier Dan Andrews and chief health officer Brett Sutton keep saying: "The best vaccine is the one you can get today." The premier again today urged people to book any vaccine appointment they could get, rather than holding out for supplies of a particular brand, which might be delayed.
As of today, 72.7 per cent of Victorians have had a single dose of a vaccine, and 44.2 per cent have been fully vaccinated. More than 63,000 people booked a vaccination yesterday, and Andrews said there were several thousand available appointments for both Pfizer and AstraZeneca available at state-run vaccine hubs this week.