Kiama Council’s Blue Haven Aged care Facility has now vaccinated 95% of its staff and 88% of its residents.
Council says Blue Haven set up three on-site vaccination clinics for staff after securing its own supply of Pfizer vaccines to ensure all staff could receive their COVID jabs quickly and easily.
The staff vaccination rate hit 95% for a first dose of the vaccine this week, said Blue Haven Acting Director, Dale Wakefield.
Mr Wakefield also confirmed 88% of Blue Haven residents are fully vaccinated.
“This is 100% of Blue Haven residents who opted for a COVID-19 vaccine. The 12% of residents that are unvaccinated are those who opted out of vaccination for various reasons, including due to health conditions,” said Mr Wakefield.
He said the latest statewide lockdown across NSW had not seen a huge change in Blue Haven facility visitor restrictions after it previously made the cautious decision to abide by Greater Sydney requirements due to the vulnerable population they serve.
“We have been able to keep life for our residents as normal as possible during lockdown, including marking Mother’s Day and Anzac Day,” said Kiama Mayor, Mark Honey.
“We also proved senior Australians are not techno-phobes when it comes to using our video chat services with their loved ones.”
“I want to acknowledge these special efforts made to keep residents in touch with their family and friends during lockdown and by our community services workers for maintaining contact with their clients at home,” Mayor Honey said.
“We have a proud, 40-year tradition of providing exceptional aged care in Kiama. I’m pleased to see our staff collaborate with local authorities to secure vaccines so that we can continue to service our Blue Haven residents so well, especially during these trying times,” he said.
