Tragic memories in the Greek community have been awakened by the new outbreak of COVID-19 in Victoria, especially when it comes to the cases found in nursing homes.
Of the 820 deaths recorded across the state since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 650 came out of nursing homes. The Greek community had lost and continues to mourn over 140 Greek-Australian elderly family members.
The Victorian state government is in a rush to prevent the worst, while the controversy with Canberra escalates over the delay in the vaccination program.
Victoria has embarked on a race to get all workers in nursing homes and disability care centers vaccinated by Sunday 6 June.
“We are concerned that there is not enough coverage (with vaccines for workers), so we are intervening,” said Victoria’s Disability, Ageing & Carers Minister Luke Donnellan.
“This is a call to arms for those workers who are on the front lines,” he said.
READ MORE: Five new COVID-19 cases, and two aged care homes affected
Various care centres for the elderly in the community told Neos Kosmos that staff vaccinations would be completed within the next few days.
Archimandrite Fr Eumenios Vassilopoulos, the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Northcote, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of St Basil’s said the care facility currently hosts 45 clients, of those he said, 36 have been vaccinated, while the other nine have been advised by doctors not to do the vaccine.
As for the staff of 90 people, 51 have been vaccinated, with the remaining 39 scheduled to be vaccinated on Friday.
Fronditha CEO Faye Spiteri told Neos Kosmos that the vaccine rollout was completed across all of their nursing homes.
“Over 70 per cent of the residents received both installments. 60 percent of our staff has also been vaccinated,” she said.
READ MORE: $452 million in response to 150 recommendations in Aged Care report
Fronditha all expects there will be further vaccinations for staff, especially those in community services and ensures that they have continued observing all safety measures throughout the pandemic.
“We want to emphasize that the safety of the elderly and staff is our top priority and that is why we apply strict rules. We do not take anything for granted,” Ms Spiteri said.
Vaccination for workers in aged care
COVID-19 vaccination is not known to be mandatory in Australia. However, it seems that this may not be the case for everyone in the near future.
More specifically, it is a directive that the vaccine should not be mandatory for those who work in nursing homes.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said he and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have asked the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) to reconsider.
The response from Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA), noted that the problem was not whether vaccinations were mandatory or not, but access to them.
ACSA Chairperson Sara Blunt said the government should stop blaming care providers and workers and the vaccination program, which she said was Canberra’s responsibility.
“This latest spike in nursing homes is a direct result of Scott Morrison’s gross negligence and dangerous complacency,” said Labor MP Mark Butler.
Where to next?
Victoria has experienced how tragic mistakes in the quarantine system and in nursing homes can be. Hundreds of people have suffered mentally, whilst the local economy has suffered major blows.
Authorities at the state and federal levels are arguing about who is to blame for lockdown 4.0.
The bottom line is that national coordination is lagging behind on important issues such as quarantine and vaccinations.
The ABC also pointed out that Victoria did not strictly enforce the QR code check ins.
