Australia’s Northern Territory is set to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to workers in some remote towns, as the first phase of the rollout nears completion.
About 2,200 people in the Top End have now received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, with the second shots expected to begin in the coming weeks.
About 450 of those are aged care residents and staff living in the territory’s capital, Darwin, as well as Alice Springs, and Katherine.
The remainder are frontline health, airport, and quarantine workers vaccinated in Phase 1A of the rollout, which should be completed within a fortnight.
“Which is 3.4 percent of all vaccinations so far in Australia despite the fact we only make up one per cent of the population,” NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Friday.
Health care workers in Nhulunbuy (1000km east of Darwin), Tennant Creek (500km north of Alice Springs) and Katherine will be among the Territorians expected to be vaccinated next week, along with government workers in the towns.
Gunner said 1,440 AstraZeneca vaccine doses were expected to arrive in the coming days, which will be followed by a further 4,000 doses.
“This is unaffected by events in Italy,” Gunner said.
In total, 18,000 vaccine doses have been secured, including an additional 11,120 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
“Which will easily allow us to complete Phase 1A in five weeks,” he said.
Phase 1B will is expected to kick off on March 22, with Territorians 70 years and over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 55 plus to be vaccinated.
Health care workers not already vaccinated, emergency service workers, people with underlying health conditions and other high-risk workers, such as Defence personnel and meat workers, will also be given the jab.
AstraZeneca is likely to be used in remote communities.
It comes as the NT government gets set to ramp up processing at the Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin.
From late May, capacity at the former mining camp will increase from 850 arrivals to 2000 per fortnight.
