PRIVATE aged care homes in the Ballarat region have had vaccines against the deadly coronavirus put on hold with little detail or chance to reschedule.
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The Courier has spoke to two aged care facilities where mid-week immunisation plans were scrapped late before jabs were to roll out.
Other facilities The Courier has spoken to this week remained waiting for a booking confirmation for much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccination.
The city has largely been kept in the dark for when Ballarat is to get its first jabs.
Ballarat Health Services has confirmed it will have more detail this week.
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Austin Health, Western Health and Monash Health delivered Victoria's first Pfizer vaccinations to top priority healthcare workers on Monday.
Bentleys Aged Care residents were among Bendigo's first residents to receive the first immunisation dose on Tuesday.
Geelong Advertiser has reported more than 440 Barwon Health healthcare workers and at least 85 public residential aged care residents have been inoculated to Wednesday afternoon.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley made clear last week Barwon Health would trial an immunisation program in Geelong's public aged care facilities that would then be adapted and rolled out in regional Victoria.
The Commonwealth government is responsible for the vaccination program in private aged care facilities, starting this week.
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A federal health department response to The Courier stated last minute changes to the schedule have been made due to vaccine delivery windows, consent arrangements among aged care residents and cold chain management.
"The roll out is a highly complex logistical operation, both for the storage and handling of the temperature sensitive vaccines and sensitive management of the needs of aged care residents and workers," the statement read. "We are continually reviewing processes to ensure efficient and safe practices are upheld, particularly for our most vulnerable.
"...The Department of Health and the Vaccine Operations Centre are working closely with residential aged care facilities and the Primary Health Networks to manage rollout scheduling and to ensure information is being effectively communicated with as much notice as possible."
Victoria will receive about 12,000 doses to Victoria in the first week of the Pfizer vaccine roll-out, with up to 59,000 doses expected to be delivered within four weeks.
BHS has estimated it will have about 2000 vaccinations in this initial phase for top priority workers and public aged care facilities. All other healthcare workers feature in the next phase, 1b.
The federal health department said data people vaccinated in aged care facilities was being collated and would be updated when confirmed.
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