I FAIL to understand why we aren't using pharmacies in every town to administer vaccines.
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Most, if not all give the flu jab, so why not a COVID vaccine? It's still just a needle in the arm.
Sure some resources would be needed to store at cold temperatures but to me, this would be about the only set-up cost. The government is spending millions setting up these super clinics.
But have a look at how well the Belmont hub is working, a complete fiasco with bookings and forced cancellations.
Lots of money wasted, could be better spent elsewhere.
Graeme Bennett, Warners Bay
I want to roll up sleeve now
CAN Scott Morrison please stop barking at us all about the importance of getting a vaccine, and start doing something to actually make them available?
Surely I am not the only one who is sick to death of being lectured by the Prime Minister and others about the value of getting vaccinated, when the only thing stopping us from getting a jab is his government's shocking go-slow in providing doses.
In the Hunter, the government is ushering us towards the vaccine with one hand and holding us back with the other.
We have only one vaccination hub across the whole region, a hub which has only just opened and has been throwing up waiting times of up to three months.
Now we are having our doses reassigned to Sydney for HSC students.
I need no encouragement. I would roll up my sleeve right here, right now, if a dose of my recommended vaccine was available.
But at this rate, it will be a shorter wait for tickets to the Brisbane Olympics.
I regret to inform the Prime Minister that this is a problem an ad campaign can't fix.
If he's not up to it he should hand it over to someone who is.
Morgan Campbell, Cessnock
AZ jab better than waiting
MOST people realise bias in sections of the media when journalists blame state and federal governments for delay in vaccinations, but I wonder if the reporters will take some responsibility for the delay and fear of the vaccine.
Many articles have appeared highlighting the problems of clotting with AstraZeneca vaccine (2.5 per 100,000 jabs), but you would have to search carefully for the incidence of Myocarditis and Pericarditis with the Pfizer vaccine, which also needs to be transported at -70 degrees, and the incidence of fever, muscle aches and tiredness after the second Pfizer shot.
With millions of people in Europe and the UK having both vaccines and hospital admissions dropping, logic will tell you to get either vaccine now.
For many years we have had flu vaccines and each year it contains, mostly, four different strains that change nearly every year.
COVID-19 will be no different.
Get the vaccine.
John Hollingsworth, Hamilton
Disappointing from Premier
HAVING spent hours trying to book into the census website I can well understand the frustration of those who were lucky enough to eventually book for their jab at the Belmont hub.
As it happens I still can't tell anyone I exist. I'm glad I started early as the advice suggests a five-day wait for response.
Sound familiar?
Then turn on the TV and be blasted by Gladys and her medicos appealing for us to get vaccinated.
Maybe the time has come to stop throwing political stones, what do you reckon?
I would have thought that any policy change would allow those already booked in, and especially the vulnerable or at-risk teachers here, to get their organised shot.
I can only suppose that Gladys' earlier legitimisation of pork barrelling has changed her opinion of what is right and wrong.
Indeed she felt that any concern over reallocation of vaccines was a dastardly act.
Well Gladys, have a think about it for a change. Just in case you don't understand Gladys, I'm right and you are wrong.
Vic Davies, Tighes Hill
Prime Minister has let us down
DON Fraser, (Short Takes, 31/7), you query why "all the lefty journos" want the PM to say "sorry"?
Well I would suggest that a lot of this has to do with the PM's late action with the entire vaccine rollout, and indeed with the entire pandemic.
As was the case with the 2019 bushfire crisis, Scott Morrison took his time to help the nation.
In both cases, there were plenty of opportunities to prepare, but ScoMo seemed to be more focused on taking holidays, and on taxpayer-funded photo shoots.
Early 2020, after being warned about COVID-19 for months, Morrison and his government did not accumulate test kits or necessary emergency equipment, did not undertake a public education campaign, or give any money to science or research.
Yes, "we now have millions of Pfizer coming in weekly", but I believe the key word here is "now". This could have happened a while ago, but Morrison didn't take the necessary steps earlier to get the vaccine into the country.
It could even be argued that the real reason we now have the vaccine is more due to action taken by a former Australian prime minister than the current one.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
It's time nurses were listened to
WEEK after week more nurses are leaving Maitland Hospital.
Shifts and positions remain unfilled, leaving patient safety compromised.
Staff morale and job satisfaction is at an all-time low.
Staff fear that there won't be enough staff left to open the new Maitland Hospital if something isn't done to correct the current situation, despite all this excitement about more beds.
Every day nurses are going to work with an impending doom that something bad is going to happen as the claim for safe nurse-to-patient ratios is not met by the NSW government.
The community of Maitland and surrounding areas deserve better health care and they deserve transparency about what is happening inside their local hospital.
Queensland and Victoria have mandated nursing ratios, improving patient care and outcomes.
The NSW government needs to implement ratios now if they want to improve the nursing and midwifery retention rate.
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, cries for help should not be ignored.
Nurses should be respected, valued and everyone of them cherished and appreciated not only in words but in strong, immediate actions.
COVID-19 is right on our doorstep.
When all the nurses finally resign, who will care for the patients then? The politicians?
Whilst I do like the idea of Brad Hazzard emptying bedpans, I'm not sure that's ever going to happen.
Renae Currie, NSWNMA Maitland Hospital Branch Delegate
MORE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
SHORT TAKES
OPEN letter to Government. The incentive we need, as fully vaccinated Australians, is a passport to go to restaurants, theatres, sporting events, family, public transport and overseas without non-vaccinated people there bringing us into danger. Money is not the answer, even $300 carrots. More freedom. That is a real incentive.
Betsy Watson, Swansea
SWEDEN did not lock down or mask up in the pandemic. Its vaccination rate is around 38 per cent. You would think being a living control group would make Sweden an object of great public interest, but it is hard to find any Sweden news for some reason.
Darryl Thurston, Salamander Bay
THE federal government baulks at Labor's idea of paying people $300 to get fully vaccinated. Funny, they have no problem forking out hundreds of millions of dollars to bribe people to vote for them at election time.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
GREAT! Another stupid Labor Party solution. Give $300 to everyone who gets vaccinated. Isn't it incentive enough to get the needle to keep yourself and your community safe? Why do these pollies make such stupid statements? If there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as the leader of the opposition of either party. You don't need a brain. Just poo poo the incumbent party with stupid ideas.
Greg Lowe, New Lambton
MAC, old mate, I definitely do not consider myself part of the majority. I'm distinctly unique and it's a human tragedy that there is nobody else like me Cheers my little munchkin.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
SORRY Mac, but out here in the real world the Butcher from the Bay is the majority .
Mick Porter, Raymond Terrace
IF the vaccines we are being given against the COVID virus don't stop you from catching the virus again and don't stop you from infecting others, then we obviously need a better vaccine. I hope our medical researchers are continuing their research, otherwise we will be living with this dreadful virus for a long time.
Bill Slicer, Tighes Hill
I WAS so happy to be booked in for a jab at Belmont; like a kid waiting for a present at Christmas. Oh well looks like year 12 students get my present.
Michael McQuarrie, Merewether
IF I was Agatha Christie, or even a Newcastle detective, I would not rely on dashcam to solve a murder.
Dave Wilson, Bar Beach
WHY don't we vaccinate all of the old people so that they don't die? High school kids are going to live forever anyway.