COVID-19Commander visits Grampians Public Health Unit
Clinical project lead Rachael Charity, COVID educator Kirrily Caldow, COVID19 response commander Jeroen Weimar, emergency workforce vaccinator Stephen Ford and associate nurse unit manager Cathryn Schmidt
Today, the outgoing COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar is visiting Ballarat to thank the hundreds of healthcare staff who have vaccinated, tested, supported and provided care for the people of the Grampians region since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The Grampians Public Health Unit was proud to welcome the COVID-19 Commander to Ballarat, to showcase the work of the team, partnering organisations and community in combatting COVID-19.
“Healthcare workers across Victoria have worked tirelessly for more than two years to keep all Victorians safe, and this includes our testers, vaccinators, contact tracers and teams on hospital wards,” Mr Weimar said. “These teams have shown their willingness to go above and beyond in protecting our communities, and I want to take this opportunity to thank those in the Grampians region who have been on the frontline of our response to COVID-19.
“The Grampians Public Health Unit team is fortunate to have a local community that is actively working to protect the community against COVID-19, with consistently high testing and vaccination rates since the beginning of the pandemic. They have also shown the strength and benefits of working together with numerous other agencies to protect the health of the community, which is ultimately what local Public Health Units were established to do.”
Grampians Public Health Unit’s Medical Director, Professor Rosemary Aldrich, said the COVID-19 Commander’s visit was a timely send-off to the Community Vaccination Clinic at the Mercure.
“We have had a robust public health response to COVID in our community, which would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our healthcare workers across the region,” Professor Aldrich said. “Our region has shown that they are really willing to come out and get tested, report a positive RAT test, and get vaccinated to protect themselves and others, which makes all the difference to the COVID impacts to our community.
“Our mass vaccination hub was held at The Mercure Convention Centre for more than a year, and we thank each and every person who came to get vaccinated, our vaccination team who were committed to helping out community protect themselves, and the Mercure team for being so accommodating to us.”
The Grampians Public Health Unit showcased the long-standing Creswick Road testing site, the Community Vaccination Clinic at The Mercure, and the agencies who banded together for local responses across our whole region.
The Community Vaccination Clinic at The Mercure is closing on Friday 29 April. The community is encouraged to stay up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccinations at other sites across Ballarat.
