Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall vaccinated in Uralla by doctor who goes above and beyond

The GP even surrenders his Sundays and does hours of overtime on a mission to get New England protected as fast as he can.

"In weekends we can do up to 300," he told the Leader.

"On Sunday I was here, last time, at 6am. You have to prepare the vaccines and you have only six hours to do it.

"So you have to prepare the first lot to finish in the first six hours and then in lunch break I can prepare the remaining. We did up to 260 on a Sunday.

"We have days we left at 8.30 [pm] one day."

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The Uralla Medical Centre has just one doctor, one nurse and three receptionists. Nonetheless, Dr Alkhouri estimated they could vaccinate as many as 700 people in a single week if they had the supply.

The enormous task of protecting his community comes on top of his ordinary medical load - but in two weeks of frantic mass vaccination, he hasn't wasted a single jab.

The doctor said he'd feel "guilty" to do anything else than put in extra time to get the job done fast.

That's part of the reason people travel from as far as Tenterfield and Gunnedah to the centre to get protected from the pandemic. Dr Alkhouri also vaccinates younger people who are in what he considers high-risk groups, including school teachers, he told media on Thursday.

On Thursday Dr Alkhouri gave the local MP, Adam Marshall, his first vaccination.

Mr Marshall said the Uralla medico is "brilliant".

"He's got exactly the right mindset, that is, we've all got to make a little bit of a sacrifice for the betterment of our local communities and fellow Australians," he said.

"He's doing his bit by coming in on Sundays, just to put jabs in people's arms. That's exactly the right attitude. It's the same attitude we should have about wearing masks and complying with all the other slight restrictions we have in regional areas. Yes it can be a bit of a pain but it's a very small price to pay for keeping COVID out of our communities and keeping the rest of us safe, particularly the vulnerable."

Just last week Mr Marshall was freed from 19 days' hotel quarantine, after the 36-year-old Cabinet Minister contracted the virus in Sydney.

The MP said he wished he could have got the vaccine months ago, and strongly encouraged locals both young and old to at least sign up for the jab immediately

The benefit of registration is that it means a person can get vaccinated the minute a new vial arrives, he said.

"I just urge people to do that: roll your sleeves up, get a jab, do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for your community and for Australia," he said.

"Because if we don't get vaccinated we're going to have to continue to suffer these arbitrary border closures, potential lockdowns and other restrictions until we have broad scale immunity through the national vaccination program."

Mr Marshall said he would have been happy to get any jab, AstraZeneca or Pfizer.

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