Tamworth COVID-19 vaccination: Tamworth Hospital staff prepare for COVID-19 vaccine roll out in anticipation of being named a hub

Exactly who gets the vaccination in Phase 1a of the program in Tamworth will be determined by Hunter New England Health (HNEH) and NSW Health.

Those staff will be contacted directly if they meet the stringent criteria to receive the vaccine in the first phase, HNEH chief executive Michael DiRienzo said.

"We are excited that the NSW Government has today announced Tamworth Hospital will come online as a COVID-19 vaccination hub on 29 March, 2021," he said.

"In addition to the hub at John Hunter Hospital and a range of satellite sites throughout the district, this will enable us to provide the vaccine to health staff in rural and regional areas.

"Satellite sites in the New England region will come online progressively following the opening of Tamworth."

Teams have been hard at work to prepare the hospital in anticipation of being confirmed as a hub.

A suitable location has already been selected at the hospital to provide the vaccinations, as well as administration and post-vaccination observation areas, Mr DiRienzo said.

"As part of our preparations we have ensured we have the appropriate facilities to safely store and administer the vaccines," he said.

"We have also identified key staff who will be involved in delivering the program, and they have begun the relevant training."

HEALTHCARE workers will get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Tamworth on March 29.

The regional roll out was announced by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Monday.

"Pleasingly today we also start the roll out in our regional centres and hubs, we identified 99 hubs and spokes throughout regional NSW that would be having access to the vaccine for our key health workers and other high-risk individuals working in, and around, our health system," Ms Berejiklian said.

"We aim to have 80,000 jabs take place in NSW over the next three weeks.

"Of that, 35,000 will be the second of the first jab, with Pfizer you need the second jab, and there will also be 45,000 people getting it for the first time.

"Out of that 45,000, 30,000 will be AstraZeneca and the balance will be Pfizer."

The regional roll out will start on March 22 with Dubbo Hospital, Bathurst, Orange, Cobar, Gilgandra, Gulargambone, Gosford, Wagga Wagga and Broken Hill.

Griffith and Port Macquarie will receive the vaccine on the 24^th, followed by Tamworth on the 29^th, Mr Hazzard said.

"The other major [centre] is Tamworth on the 29^th of March," he said.

"We continue to do all we can here in NSW to support the roll out of the vaccine across the broader regional areas as well as the city areas to make sure all of our health staff are vaccinated."

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Local GP's had expected to receive vials of the vaccine from March 22, but have warned patients not to "panic" about booking vaccination appointments.

Primary Health Network (PHN) executive director John Baillie previously told the Leader that practices are in the process of preparing for the roll out so it will not be helpful for the public to ring.

The federal government has created an online tracker so people can find out under which phase they will get the jab. It can be accessed at covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/.

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