Long queues at walk-in vaccination clinics have become a regular sight in the lead up to the opening of the WA border, but Health authorities are urging people to seek appointments elsewhere, and there are plenty available if you know where to look.
Residents have reported long wait times and lengthy queues at the state-run vaccination clinics, amid concerns of a surge in cases when the WA border opens on February 5.
One resident told The Examiner that her partner had given up on the Armadale clinic due to the long wait.
“He looked on the Roll Up for WA app and went to another walk-in clinic in Canning Vale and there wasn’t much of a wait there,” she said.
Health authorities are urging people who may be discouraged by the long wait times at walk-in clinics to consider a different option, and recommend residents make a booking at one of the state-run clinics through the Vaccinate WA app or one of the hundreds of pharmacies and GPs who are offering the vaccine.
“The demand for vaccinations is increasing, and our state-run vaccination clinics have been busy,” a spokesperson for Department of Health told The Examiner.
But they said there were a lot of options for people who wish to avoid waiting in line.
“They have the options of participating chemists and GPs, and we would encourage people to make a booking through Vaccinate WA, which they can find through the Roll Up for WA website,”
“At the moment the clinics are busy so we’re really encouraging people to make bookings – over the next few weeks there are over 84,000 appointments available at state-run clinics,” said the spokesperson.
Kelmscott Pharmacist Jeffrey Lam said many pharmacies are facing issues with walk-ins.
“We are dealing with a lot of people coming in and asking for walk-ins, and we have to turn them away because our booking system is full,” he said.
“I had a call this morning to say the line at the Armadale clinic is out to the car park.”
Another Pharmacist in Kelmscott told The Examiner that they have plenty of supply of the vaccine, but the number of people seeking the vaccination has increased.
“We’ve been doing up to 30 vaccinations a day. Further towards the CBD I think they get busier. I know at another store they did 60 vaccinations on Tuesday.”
As of Tuesday, some 86.7 per cent of West Australians over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated.
For more information about vaccination bookings visit www.rollup.wa.gov.au
For more information on COVID-19 visit https://www.wa.gov.au/government/covid-19-coronavirus
