Warrigal have welcomed plans to bring forward the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to this February.
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Warrigal CEO Mark Sewell also welcomed news aged care staff and residents were priorities for early access to the vaccine.
He said Warrigal supported Aged and Community Service Australia's (ACSA) position that it should be at least strongly recommended, if not a requirement, for all employees and residents to receive the vaccination.
"Whether the vaccine should be compulsory for aged care residents and workers is a question for the government to address, but we must remember older people are the most at risk in our communities and they are supported by workers who are in the front line of this pandemic.
"Aged care workers have a role to play in supporting these public health programs to ensure that they, and those they care for, are vaccinated," Mr Sewell said.
The rollout of a national vaccination program requires significant planning and logistics. The current plan is for the Commonwealth to manage nationally the vaccination of residents in residential aged care.
"We do acknowledge that vaccination alone will not guarantee our residents and staff will be safe from COVID-19, but continued practice of other prevention and control measures such as the use of PPE, and prevention measures by the community, will help to keep residents and staff safe from COVID-19," Mr Sewell said.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
