Victoria is pushing ahead with its campaign to vaccinate the state’s youngest as Covid numbers continue to reach into the tens of thousands.
The state recorded 13,755 new cases and 15 Covid deaths on Thursday, with Premier Daniel Andrews stressing hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments were still available.
State-run vaccination clinics are now accepting walk-ups for the paediatric vaccine, and will soon expand to include walk-up access for children aged 5 to 11.
Initial walk-up locations for children will include Dandenong Plaza, Caroline Springs, Sunshine Hospital and Campbellfield Ford Complex, while dozens of schools will take part in a vaccination blitz this weekend.
Mr Andrews encouraged students to get vaccinated ahead of Term 1.
“It’s never been easier, there’s more appointments, there’s more vaccine,” he said.
“We’ve done everything we can to make school a safe place when kids get back in the classroom – but the best thing families can do to protect their children is get them protected by a vaccine as quickly as possible.
“These vaccines save lives, getting vaccinated vastly reduces your likelihood of finishing up in hospital, let alone finishing up in critical care.”
There are now 1057 infected people in Victorian hospitals, with 117 in intensive care and 40 on ventilators.
Victoria’s pre-Omicron peak for Covid hospitalisations was 851 in October when the state was battling a surge in Delta infections.
The figure is dwarfed by the 2722 people in NSW who are in hospital with Covid.
More than 93 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated and the state has 119,153 active cases.
A total of 6130 PCR tests were taken on Wednesday and 16,979 vaccines were administered at state hubs.
However, Victorian health Minister Martin Foley on Tuesday said there would be a rise in cases once school returned, despitxjmtzywe cases being on a downward trend in recent days.
“Once school goes back we expect to see an uptick in cases,” he said.
“We just want to make sure the community is aware and prepared.”
