News and information…

COVID VACCINE BOOSTERS

We are able to offer a booster dose for patients aged 18 and over who have received their first two doses of any of the Covid vaccines  – boosters to be administered 6 months after the second dose.

We will schedule boosters and contact all of the patients who have had their second dose at Blackburn Clinic. You will receive a text message or phone call with details of the scheduled appointment, which will be planned for as close as possible to 6 months after your second dose. If this date does not suit you or you do not want to proceed, please telephone the clinic to adjust your appointment.

Current patients who did not have their Covid vaccines with us, you are very welcome to telephone the clinic to book in for your booster dose. We will need to know the date that you received your second dose.

The preferred vaccine for the booster dose is Pfizer. If there is a reason why you would prefer an Astra Zeneca booster, then please telephone the clinic and we will arrange a time for you.

Please be reassured that your first two doses are still likely to be very effective but ongoing protection is helped by the booster dose. ATAGI has confirmed that there is no recommendation to have a booster any sooner than 6 months after your second dose.

For those patients who have had a 3rd primary dose (generally 2 months after their second and usually for patients with some type of immunosuppression) there is no current recommendation to have a booster dose.

As usual, please feel free to contact the clinic for an appointment to discuss matters further if you would like to.

CURRENT COVID PROTOCOLS IN PLACE

At present, all patients aged 12 and over must have had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine to enter our premises.

In line with Victorian Government guidance, we will only provide Face-to-Face consultations for patients aged 12 and above if they are fully or partially vaccinated with a Covid vaccine. This is not required for patients from birth to 11 years of age.

Please be reassured, patients aged 12 and over who are not vaccinated will still be cared for, but we will need to take extra precautions by offering a Telehealth consultation in the first instance. Where the GP deems it appropriate, they may then be booked into our Carpark Respiratory Clinic to be seen by a GP in full personal protective equipment.

We take this measure in order to minimise risks to our team and to other patients from Covid infection and to ensure we remain open and available to care for you.

This applies to everyone coming into the clinic, including people accompanying patients.

At this stage we plan to operate in line with Victorian Government advice to many service industries. When the advice for other industries is to re-open to unvaccinated patrons, we will review this protocol. Please respect that this is a clinic policy – please be kind and respectful in your dealings with our staff as they comply with the clinic policy.

ONLINE appointments are now for FACE-TO-FACE.

If you book an appointment online from 22/10/2021, this will be for a FACE-TO-FACE (F2F) consultation (but you are welcome to call the clinic to change this to a Telehealth appointment).

If you make an online booking (for F2F) but are not yet vaccinated against Covid OR have ANY respiratory symptoms prior to the appointment, please phone us to change this to Telehealth. The doctor can decide via Telehealth whether to book you for the Carpark Respiratory Clinic or how else we can assist.

Respiratory symptoms are those associated with having a cold or flu, or having a fever.

We understand some of our Covid protocols are inconvenient – unfortunately if a patient attends in person and is subsequently diagnosed with COVID it means that all staff, doctors (and other patients) who were present need to isolate and be tested. We will struggle to keep operating if staff and doctors keep having to isolate, so our protocols are designed to keep us open, allowing us to continue helping our community.

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Keep up to date with changes to the vaccine program, new services and ways that we can continue to help during Covid restriction periods.

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COVID-19 VACCINATIONS

BLACKBURN CLINIC IS STILL PROVIDING BOTH ASTRA ZENECA AND PFIZER VACCINATIONS.

All Covid vaccine bookings (including third doses for immunocompromised patients) must be made by telephoning the clinic.

THIRD DOSE

Please note, this is not the same as booster doses. Third doses are for people with immune compromising conditions or medications (eg. cancer, chemotherapy).

If you regularly attend Blackburn Clinic, please call the clinic for an appointment to determine your eligibility. If you are not our regular patient, please arrange a letter confirming eligibility from your GP or relevant specialist, or use the eligibility declaration form.

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A useful resource for parents and teenagers regarding Covid-19 vaccines:

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/09/covid-19-vaccine-information-for-teens-and-parents-guardians-covid-19-vaccine-information-for-adolescents-and-parents-or-carers_0.pdf

For further information about the Astra Zeneca vaccine (including side effects such as the rare blood clotting condition) on the links below:

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/05/covid-19-vaccination-information-on-covid-19-astrazeneca-vaccine.pdf

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/06/covid-19-vaccination-atagi-advice-on-the-covid-19-astrazeneca-vaccine-faqs.pdf

For further information about the Pfizer vaccine, please click on the link below:

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/08/covid-19-vaccination-information-on-covid-19-pfizer-comirnaty-vaccine.pdf

HOW TO GET PROOF OF YOUR COVID-19 VACCINATION

You can get proof via your Medicare online account through myGov, or the Express Plus Medicare mobile app. See this link for instructions:

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/getting-help-during-coronavirus-covid-19/covid-19-vaccinations/how-get-proof-your-covid-19-vaccinations

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 1 week apart.

FLU VACCINATIONS CANNOT BE BOOKED ONLINE.

WEEKEND PROTOCOL – no appointment necessary

On weekends and public holidays 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.

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

Please phone the clinic to book Telehealth appointments.

TELEHEALTH FEES

Telehealth consultations have an out of pocket Gap (after the Medicare rebate) of $30 (or $15 for Concession patients) for appointments MON-FRI BEFORE 6PM. Telehealth AFTER 6PM and ON WEEKENDS has a Gap of $45 ($30 Concession). 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.