A mass vaccination clinic will open in Noarlunga next Tuesday 25 May to service the south.

This follows expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations from General Practices (GPs) this week.

Minister for Health and Wellbeing Steven Wade says GPs across the state are flexing up their distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the support of the Commonwealth Government, to include those in Phase 2a of the rollout program.

“South Australia continues to vaccinate its population at the highest per capita rate of any mainland state and we are set to further scale up our rollout with GPs flexing up their distribution of the vaccine.

“We will also be supporting the rollout with the opening of the Noarlunga mass vaccination clinic on Tuesday 25 May and the Elizabeth mass vaccination clinic on Monday 31 May.

“Following on from our nation-leading Wayville clinic at the Adelaide Showgrounds, the Noarlunga and Elizabeth sites will also be ‘dual stream’ clinics, delivering both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine, to give more eligible South Australians access to the vital vaccination.

“As part of this process, SA Health is pivoting from hospital-based clinics to community-based clinics. The early phases of the national strategy focussed on hospital-based staff, vaccinated by hospital-based clinics, but as we move further into Phase 2a we will be scaling back or closing our hospital-based clinics while scaling up our community clinics. 

“Our mass vaccination hubs offer more vaccination capacity, more convenience for community clients and, in particular, more accessible parking.

Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick says GP clinics across the state will start to receive their share of the additional doses within the next two weeks following a recent expression of interest process.

“GPs have been at the forefront of the rollout for their patients and we are pleased to be able to partner with GPs to provide additional doses and increase access for South Australians to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr Kirkpatrick says.

“South Australians who are eligible for the vaccine now have more access, with the Pfizer vaccine available for those in phases 1a and 1b of the program, and the AstraZeneca vaccine available for anyone aged 50 years and over through the ever-expanding GP and state-run vaccination clinic network.”

Bookings are now open for the Noarlunga clinic via the SA Health website and will open in the coming days for the Elizabeth clinic.

The Flinders Medical Centre based clinic will operate up to and including 30 May, while the Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospital clinics will operate and take bookings up to and including Saturday 22 May.