As you are all essential workers, the only change to your arrangements with picking up shifts will be that you require a permit. We can arrange one for you as soon as you accept a shift.
Due to the ongoing level of community transmission of coronavirus in Victoria, the current lockdown across Melbourne will be extended and a curfew will be put in place across metropolitan Melbourne.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has declared that from tonight (16th August) the lockdown restrictions will be strengthened and extended in metropolitan Melbourne, until 11.59pm on Thursday, 2 September. This is an additional 14 days on the previous directions.
The strengthened settings will see a curfew imposed from 9pm to 5am every night. This will operate as it did last year, with very limited reasons to leave the home during this time. There will be increased police presence across metropolitan Melbourne to ensure public health measures are enforced.
Permits will be required to leave the house for authorised work, consistent with the arrangements that were in place last year. Additional restrictions will also apply to the construction industry, again operating as it did last year with staffing reductions in place except for critical infrastructure and emergency repairs.
Authorised workers will be required to carry permits when working, and when travelling for work, from 11:59pm on Tuesday August 17. The permits need to be certified by an employer.
COVID-19 vaccines
Information for aged care providers, workers and residents about COVID-19 vaccines
Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for residential aged care workers
From 17 September 2021, COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for all residential aged care workers.
Residential aged care workers will be required to have received a minimum first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by this time. It will be a condition of working in a residential aged care facility through shared state, territory and Commonwealth authorities and compliance measures.
This is based on advice from the medical experts, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and was agreed by the National Cabinet on 28 June 2021.
AHPPC has endorsed the scope of the workforce to establish mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for the following residential aged care workers:
– Full time, part-time and casual staff employed or engaged on behalf of the residential aged care facility (RACF) (such as agency staff working onsite) including:
Direct care workforce (nurses; personal care workers; allied health professionals, and allied health assistants)
Administration staff (reception; management; administration)
Ancillary staff (food preparation; cleaning; laundry; garden; maintenance)
Lifestyle / social care (music/art therapy); Transport drivers collecting residents from RACFs for outings
– Volunteers engaged by the RACF
– Students on placement; and
– Medical practitioners who attend and provide care to residents.
This delivers on the National Cabinet’s intent of mandating vaccination in residential aged care for workers considered most at risk, namely those that are within the control of the aged care provider. This also aligns with mandatory reporting requirements currently in place.
Outside of this core workforce, the risk of transmission remains in instances where other workers are coming into close contact with residents or other staff. This includes allied health professionals, hairdressers, pastoral care workers and other in-reach contractors, volunteers, and visitors. Vaccination is strongly encouraged for anyone entering a RACF, particularly these groups.
The Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19 is also being updated to include consideration of vaccination against COVID?19.
Exemptions
It is expected there will be a limited number of circumstances in which an exemption will be granted. This will be a matter for individual states and territories, including determining the process for applying for and approving exemptions based on the relevant processes and decision-making bodies in each jurisdiction. Further information will be provided as these are developed.
Medical exemptions will align with the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation clinical guidance on COVID-19 vaccine in Australia in 2021.
Selected medical practitioners can notify the Australian Immunisation Register of an individual who has a vaccine exemption due to medical contraindications, which will be displayed on an individual’s immunisation history statement.
In some circumstances, a temporary exemption may apply if an aged care worker can demonstrate every effort to access a vaccination by mid-September 2021, but an inability to receive due to supply or access limitations.
In these cases, the Commonwealth will utilise existing channels to ensure vaccination as quickly as possible after being made aware of the exemptions.
A number of other limited and temporary exemptions may apply and are covered in the Mandatory Vaccination of Aged Care workers.
Exemptions on religious, political and personal grounds will be finalised through State and Territory public health orders and directions. Currently, no exemptions will be made on these grounds. Further information on the specific application of these, including processes for managing exemptions and compliance, will be released soon.
How to access a COVID-19 vaccination
Residential aged care workers, irrespective of age, are eligible to receive the Pfizer
COVID-19 vaccine.
Workers can also choose to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. GPs can continue to administer AstraZeneca to Australians under 60 years of age with informed consent.
Residential aged care workers can access a COVID-19 vaccine through:
On-site Provider and GP clinics: Residential aged care providers can conduct their own Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination clinics for their workforce, or consult with their Primary Health Network to organise a GP-run on-site clinic.
– Providers can conduct vaccination clinics for their workers through a Request for Tender (RFT), which is open to 30 July 2021.
– Residential aged care workers can also get vaccinated onsite through GP-run clinics at your facility. More than 1,300 general practices will be administering Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from July 2021.
Primary care clinics: Residential aged care workers can access a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, or an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at a general practice, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service or Commonwealth Vaccination Clinic (GP respiratory clinics).
All primary care clinics should book a vaccination appointment for residential aged care workers to be within 14 days of the request in July. From August, bookings should be made within 7 days of the request.
More than 1,300 general practices will begin administering Pfizer vaccines from July 2021. In addition, participating pharmacies will be administering Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.
Refer to the eligibility checker for available clinics in your state and territory.
For further information please see following links:
Extended Melbourne Lockdown to Keep Victorians Safe | Premier of Victoria
Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Coronavirus (COVID-19) (dhhs.vic.gov.au)
COVID-19 vaccines | Australian Government Department of Health
Mandatory vaccination of residential aged care workers (health.gov.au)
