Last shots at Ford

BARWON Health’s COVID-19 vaccination hub at the old Ford factory in Geelong is winding down after a year in operation.

Although a specific closure date is yet to be set, a Barwon Health spokesperson confirmed operations will be transitioning to a smaller site at the South Barwon Civic Centre in Belmont in May.

Opening in the April 2021, more than 300,000 vaccinations have been administered at the Norlane hub, helping the region achieve some of the highest, and earliest, vaccination rates in the state and nation.

A gearing down of the facility coincides with an easing of COVID restrictions from the Victorian government that include dropping of vaccine mandates.

A fourth ‘winter’ dose of the COVID vaccine is now available for adults aged 65 years and older, residents of aged care or disability care facilities, people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 50 years and older.

The fourth shot is available to people in the above categories four months after receiving their third dose, or from four months after a confirmed COVID-19 infection, if infection has occurred since the person’s third dose.