AS Philippa Wright received her second dose of Pfizer at the Belmont mass vaccination hub on Monday morning, she closed her eyes; relieved and grateful for the opportunity to be fully vaccinated against COVID.
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The Newcastle optometrist had received her first vaccination at the John Hunter Hospital clinic three weeks ago, and said the new hub was much easier to navigate.
"It seems a lot more streamlined and organised and efficient, and it looks like they have heaps of room too, with a nice big open area," Ms Wright said. "It was very easy. At no point did you feel like you didn't know where to go. You knew exactly where to be and what to do and when."
Ms Wright encouraged others who were eligible to get the vaccine as soon as possible too, particularly now that it was becoming more accessible for more people with the opening of the hub.
The vaccination hub at the former Belmont Bunnings site has the capacity to deliver up to 20,000 doses a week. On Monday, it administered about 1000 doses.
"I think we have all got a responsibly to our community. Herd immunity is a proven protective measure. And we have to protect the people in our community who can't get the vaccinations.
"The sooner we all do that, the sooner we can get back to doing things and seeing people and going places.
"If you do happen to get COVID, the vaccine reduces your chances of hospitalisation and the severity of your symptoms, so why wouldn't you?"
Chad Nean, of Adamstown Heights, was one of the first people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the Belmont hub.
The 41-year-old accountant said he did not hesitate to book in for an appointment as soon as he was eligible.
"The sooner we can get this done, the better," he said.
"It's for the community, for myself, and for my family.
"I just want things to get back to normal as soon as possible, and to be able to do what we want to do, when we want to do it."
Rachel Hollis, a 49-year-old aged care worker from Pokolbin, was also one of the first people through the mass vaccination hub.
Ms Hollis spoke to the Newcastle Herald while sitting in the final waiting area. She had a time sticker on her shirt, and she pointed to a clock on the wall - there to help ensure she waited the appropriate amount of time after her vaccine before she left the centre.
She said the experience was "seamless", and the nurse had made her feel really comfortable.
"I work in aged care, so first and foremost, getting the vaccine is a mandated requirement," she said.
"But I also think this is the way forward.
"I want to keep my community safe, and I want to keep my family safe. So it was important to do the right thing for me."
Michelle Gilbert-Kent, of Redhead, works with Fire + Rescue and was pleased to get the Pfizer vaccine at the hub on Monday.
"My partner works in the red zone as a firey as well," she said. "We have a lot of family that help us out with babysitting, so we obviously don't want our family to get COVID either. This is protecting us, and protecting them.
"My partner has to lock down every time she comes back from Sydney. She's frustrated, I'm frustrated.
"So we just want things to get back to normal as soon as possible."
IN THE NEWS:
Michael DiRienzo, the chief executive of Hunter New England Health, congratulated the enormous effort" of staff members who got the hub up and running within six weeks. He hoped the hub, which employs more than 300 staff members, would be vaccinating at full capacity within the next three weeks. It would play a "very important" role in helping NSW reaching its vaccination targets.
"While our GPs and hospitals have all done a great job in vaccinating the community, I think you will see over the next couple of weeks that mass vaccination, in a centre like this, will just get us there a lot quicker," he said.
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