Thursday, 4 November 2021
To: All CALHN staff
Purpose:
To provide an update on:
- booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine
- use of different COVID-19 vaccine brands to complete a primary course
Action:
All CALHN staff are asked to:
- familiarise themselves with the below information
cascade the below to colleagues, particularly if they do not have access to email.
Many of you will be pleased to know that eligible CALHN staff are now able to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine following a decision by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Staff become eligible for their booster dose at least 6 months after completion of their primary course of the COVID-19 vaccine (ie for most individuals after their second dose). The date of your last primary course dose can be found on your vaccination certificate.
Receiving a booster dose is not currently mandatory, and staff who have completed their primary course of vaccine are considered fully vaccinated. The booster will be the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
You can read more about ATAGIs recommendations on the use of a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine here.
Where to get your booster
You can receive your booster by making a booking or walking into any of the CALHN run sites including Wayville, Adelaide (MYER centre) and the newly opened Kilkenny clinic - close to TQEH! Visit the clinic web pages to see opening times, clinic locations and to make a booking.
To help facilitate the rollout of the booster program, I’m pleased to announce we will be holding pop-up vaccination clinics in the RAH and TQEH to complement our existing CALHN-run clinics. These clinics will run on select days for a period of 4 weeks, beginning this Monday 8 November. Bookings can be made via the links below. Walk-ins will also be available (subject to capacity).
RAH pop-up
RAH library (8D), Sunday-Tuesday, 8.30am to 3.30pm. Book an appointment.
TQEH pop-up
7C, Wednesday, 8.30am to 3.30pm. Book an appointment.
If you choose to be vaccinated during work time, please consult with your manager first to ensure service delivery and patient safety is not compromised.
Use of different COVID-19 vaccine brands to complete a primary course
ATAGI continues to recommend that, if available, the same COVID-19 vaccine brand should be used for the two doses of the primary vaccination course (ie dose one and two). However, new advice has been released that allows for an alternative brand to be used for the second dose in select circumstances including if a patient is unable to access or not accepting of a second dose of the same brand. This decision by ATAGI may present options for those staff that have not yet completed their primary course of COVID vaccine. Further information available here.
Rachael Kay
CALHN COVID-19 Commander