A VACCINATION centre could be just a couple of hours up the road for Tamworth locals after the city of Newcastle was put forward as a site for a mass vaccination hub.
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The search is under way for an appropriate Newcastle venue to launch the state's second COVID-19 mass vaccination centre.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed on Wednesday that he and Premier Gladys Berejiklian had put forward their support for the city to be the next location for a hub, following the success of the Homebush site.
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"Newcastle is a major city, with a large population in the surrounding region," he told ABC radio on Wednesday morning.
He said the search had already begun to find an appropriate building or site for the hub, but that he was hoping the public may also have ideas about where to host the centre.
Requirements include a site of 2000 square metres or more, with easy traffic flow-through and the capacity for a large amount of parking either on-site or nearby. The site would need to have sufficient space for a separate pharmacy section, waiting areas and the ability to hold a large number of people.
The Sydney Olympic Park clinic was discovered after a NSW Health staffer saw the site advertised for lease on a real estate website.
The Homebush hub is currently vaccinating about 5000 people a day. In Newcastle the aim would be to "move through a couple of thousand a day".
The current Homebush hub is set to hit 30,000 vaccinations a week when it begins to offer both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines later this month. The plan would be to distribute both vaccines at the Newcastle hub also.
Earlier this month Newcastle and Hunter GPs called for McDonald Jones Stadium to become a vaccination 'mega hub'.
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Jessica Brown
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
