More than 30,000 additional appointments over the next six week have been added at the AIS Arena Mass Vaccination Clinic to get more Canberrans vaccinated sooner.
ACT Health says the extra bookings have been made available in the MyDHR booking system to match a boost in Pfizer vaccine supply.
ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr said people with existing bookings would now be able to get vaccinated faster.
“The next eight weeks is a race to get as many Canberrans vaccinated as possible,” Mr Barr said.
“The additional supply of Pfizer in both ACT Government clinics and across the primary health network will help us achieve our goal of getting more than 85% of the ACT population over the age of 12 vaccinated,” he said.
“Overall these new appointments are anticipated to speed up our program by about two weeks.”
He said that for many people over 18, the fastest way to get vaccinated was still to talk to a health professional about getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.
ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said participating GPs and pharmacies in the ACT were also expected to receive increased Pfizer supply.
“People can use the Commonwealth’s eligibility checker to find participating GPs and pharmacies in the ACT,” Minister Stephen-Smith said.
“Being able to provide more vaccinations to Canberrans sooner is a great result.
“I encourage Canberrans to use the MyDHR portal to look for earlier appointments. While online is the fastest and easiest way to book an earlier appointment, this can also be done by phoning our vaccine booking line on (02) 5124 7700 between 7am and 7pm daily.
“I understand a lot of people will be keen to get an earlier appointment and this will likely create high demand on both our online and phone systems, so please be patient and respectful to our staff.
“People moving their vaccine bookings forward will have a domino effect as their previous booking becomes available and this should allow most people to be able to get an earlier booking, noting that this is likely to take several days to work through.”
Mr Barr said the ACT Government would continue to work with the Commonwealth Government and other healthcare providers to ensure the delivery of a safe, effective and accessible COVID-19 vaccine program in the ACT.
For more information on who is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and how to book an appointment: www.covid19.act.gov.au/vaccine
