News and information…

COVID-19 VACCINATIONS

General information about Australia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Strategy is available here.

Please check this page regularly for updated information regarding Covid-19 Vaccinations – please DO NOT PHONE THE CLINIC to ask about COVID-19 Vaccinations, we will communicate new information as it becomes available on this page of our website.

HOW TO BOOK FOR A COVID-19 VACCINATION

IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AND COMPLETELY.

We are now open for COVID-19 vaccine bookings for the 1b cohort of patients.

This cohort includes everyone over 70 years of age. You may also be eligible if you are younger, so please check your eligibility on https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility  If you are not part of this cohort, please continue to come back to this page regularly as we will update it as the roll out continues.

IMPORTANTLY, if you are

• Pregnant;
• On warfarin or have a bleeding disorder;
• Immune suppressed or on immune suppressing treatments;
• have a history of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) or heparin induced thrombocytopaenia (HIT)
• Have a history of anaphylaxis; or
• have questions about the Covid vaccines,

then you should book a regular appointment with your GP to discuss these issues prior to booking a Covid vaccine (do not book online).

If you are under 70 you must bring confirmation of eligibility to your vaccine appointment if you are in either of the groups below:

• occupational eligiblity (proof of this)
• medically eligible and NOT one of our regular patients (you need a letter from your regular GP confirming your eligibility).

The Government also allow patients to complete an ELIGIBILITY DECLARATION FORM (click here to access) if necessary. Patients may bring a completed Eligibility Declaration Form on the day of vaccination if they are unable to provide other evidence of occupational or medical eligibility.  Please note that if you are eligible due to underlying medical conditions, it is important you have discussed the efficacy and safety of the vaccine with your doctor prior to the day of vaccination.

The TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) has determined that COVID vaccines are both safe and effective. The side effects are generally mild in intensity and mostly settle in a day or two. The most likely reactions include injection site pain and tenderness, fatigue, headache, muscle pain and fever. Booking for your vaccination implies that you are prepared to consent for this. If you have questions please book a regular appointment instead.

Please book for your COVID vaccine using our online booking system:

• Click on the Online booking button and enter your Medicare number and date of birth and click “log in”.
• Use the calendar icon to select a date on Saturdays, Sundays. We are already booked up to 1 May 2021, so search from that date onwards.  We are only running COVID vaccine clinics on weekends at this stage.
• Choose any of the “COVID VACCINATOR”s that appear in the list of available appointments. If no appointments are showing on the window then that date may be fully booked. Keep selecting other Saturday or Sunday dates (eg. the following weekend) until appointments show on the screen.
• Ignore the gender of the COVID Vaccinator as this cannot be guaranteed. You cannot book to have a COVID vaccine with your normal GP. We have a team of qualified immunisers who are trained specifically to administer COVID vaccines.
• Press “Select & Continue”
• Tick that you agree to the Terms & Conditions (tick box is just below the wording in Red). Fill in your email address if you’d like to receive a confirmation of your booking.
• Click on the “Yes, Book this Appointment” blue button at the top left hand side of the screen.
• Appointments made online for individual GPs will be normal face to face appointments for other matters. If you are having difficulties with booking online, then you may like to firstly ask for assistance from a family member. Our reception team can arrange help if you are still requiring some assistance.

NEW PATIENTS are unable to book online (due to software limitations) and are asked to complete a NEW COVID VACCINE PATIENT REGISTRATION FORM by clicking here. Please print out, complete the form, scan and email it back (to the email address on the form), or follow the alternate instructions on the form.

Existing patients who have not consulted with us for more than 2 years will need to phone our reception team to request an appointment.

Our vaccination program will commence on Saturday 27th March and we will initially be running vaccine clinics from 1-5pm on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  Note – over Easter, we will run vaccine clinics on Saturday 3rd April and Easter Monday 5th April.

It is very important that you attend at your check-in time. You will be greeted by a patient support worker and organised into a group of 4 and asked to sit in our waiting room. You will then be escorted to a consulting room to await the administration of your vaccine. You will then return to our waiting room for a period of 15 minutes (COVID vaccine protocol requires that you stay under observation for 15 minutes) after which time you may leave. The total time in the clinic is 30 minutes.

When you receive your first dose of COVID vaccine, you will be provided with an appointment time for your booster (second) dose, which is scheduled to occur 12 weeks after your initial dose, generally at the same time and day of week.  This booster appointment can only be changed in exceptional circumstances due to stock control and vaccine supply issues.

Please contact us promptly if you need to cancel your booking due to illness. Please do not come to the clinic if you have a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms or have been in a hot spot area or have had contact with a confirmed COVID case.

We are extremely proud to be part of the first cohort of general practices around Australia that have been nominated to participate in the vaccine rollout.

If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine or are undecided about whether to have it, please book an appointment to discuss this with your doctor.

If you would like more information about the possible occurrence of rare blood clots with the Covid 19 vaccine ,  please click on the following link.

https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-statement-consumers-specific-clotting-condition-after-covid-19-vaccination

Click on the topics below for more information:

• Preparing for your COVID-19 Vaccination
• About your COVID-19 Vaccination
• What to expect after your COVID-19 Vaccination.

FLU VACCINATIONS

Flu vaccination bookings can be made by telephoning our reception team. Please be aware that your Flu and COVID vaccinations need to occur at least 2 weeks apart.

FLU VACCINATIONS CANNOT BE BOOKED ONLINE.

COVID-19 VACCINE ELIGIBILITY CHECKER

If you are 70 years or older (55 years or older if Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) you are automatically eligible for a vaccine in Phase 1b of the rollout. Other ages may be eligible due to occupation (critical & high risk workers or health care workers) or due to underlying medical conditions including disability – please use this link to check which phase of the COVID-19 Vaccine rollout you fit into:  https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility

WEEKEND PROTOCOL – no appointment necessary

On weekends and public holidays, please use the QR code at our entrance to get a COVID PASS, ensuring you have no Covid symptoms before entering the waiting room. Patients will be seen in order of arrival. If you have symptoms please phone the clinic before 10:00am, so we can arrange for the doctor to call you and book you into our carpark respiratory clinic if appropriate.

If you’ve had a Covid test, please phone the clinic so we can arrange for a doctor to call you back with the result. We have limited capacity to change ‘dressings’ on weekends, but if strictly necessary, you are advised to come as early as possible – depending on how busy the carpark respiratory clinic gets, dressings may not be possible after 10:00am on weekends.

TELEHEALTH

Telehealth is still available where appropriate – please phone the clinic to book telehealth appointments.

TELEHEALTH FEES

There is an out of pocket gap (after the Medicare rebate) of $30 (or $15 for Concession patients). These gaps are lower than for face-to-face appointments.

CORONAVIRUS TESTING

Blackburn Clinic is not able to test for COVID-19. Please CLICK HERE to view the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) MAP OF COVID-19 TESTING SITES or speak with your doctor. Some sites require a referral from your GP.  Click on the site you are interested in attending to get further information about their service.

CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOM CHECKER

CLICK HERE to access the DHHS Symptom Checker.

CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION IN OTHER LANGUAGES

Please CLICK HERE to view information provided by DHHS about COVID-19, which is available in over 50 different languages.