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Speaker 1: Well, we know whenever there is an election, there's always

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Speaker 1: plenty of promises made and sometimes you're not sure whether

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Speaker 1: they're going to be delivered. But one of the things

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Speaker 1: that was certainly committed to and the government is delivering

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Speaker 1: on is their commitment of free Menager cockle B vaccines.

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Speaker 1: With the program set to roll out from January. The

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Speaker 1: vaccine is going to be free for all infants under

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Speaker 1: the age of two, as well as adolescence age fourteen

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Speaker 1: to nineteen years Now, a lot of listeners have been

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Speaker 1: keen to get a bit of an update on how

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Speaker 1: it's all going to work. Joining us on the line

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Speaker 1: to tell us a little bit more about the situation

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Speaker 1: is the Meningitis Center of Australia's Chief executive Officer, Karen Quick.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Karen.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 3: How are you?

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Speaker 1: You're really good? Lovely to have you on the show now. Karen, firstly,

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Speaker 1: can you remind us what manager cockle is and how

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Speaker 1: serious it can be.

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Speaker 3: Me Ninja cockle is a deadly bacteria.

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Speaker 2: It's sits in the back of about two and thirty

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Speaker 2: percent of people's.

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Speaker 3: Throats and noses.

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Speaker 2: What happens is sometimes has evaged the body.

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Speaker 3: And it goes straight to the mi ninjas.

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Speaker 2: Or the lining of the brain, and that's when it

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Speaker 2: causes big problems lots of limbs. It can be really

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Speaker 2: bad scarring, will calls the epilepsy and one in ten

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Speaker 2: will die, one and four end up with a permanent disability.

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Speaker 2: Really dreadful disease.

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Speaker 1: It is a dreadful disease. It's something that we've spoken

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Speaker 1: about quite a bit on the show. It's been very

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Speaker 1: well documented, the loss of little territory in Skyla. We've

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Speaker 1: spoken to appearance at different times and there's been a

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Speaker 1: real push for this vaccine to be made more readily

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Speaker 1: available with something I know through the election campaign you

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Speaker 1: were quite pleased to hear that the CLP had said

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Speaker 1: that they were going to commit to and well they're

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Speaker 1: following through with it.

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Speaker 2: Now they are. We are so excited. This is a

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Speaker 2: real win for the Northern Territory pro checking all babies

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Speaker 2: and your children as and teens. It's absolutely wonderful.

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Speaker 1: And so who's eligible to access the vaccine for free?

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Speaker 1: Is it going to be for everybody?

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Speaker 2: No, okay, So we're looking at the high risk areas,

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Speaker 2: So that's babies, so between six and twelve months, they

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Speaker 2: will automatically get it as part of their immunization program.

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Speaker 2: For those until they turn to they can get a

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Speaker 2: catch up vaccination. They just have to go to their

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Speaker 2: community healthcare center, and then our teenagers they'll all get

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Speaker 2: it in year nine, and then those age between fifteen

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Speaker 2: and nineteen can get what we call a catch up

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Speaker 2: vaccination as well. So it's really important that parents are

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Speaker 2: aware of that and they go and they get it

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Speaker 2: as soon as they can.

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Speaker 1: That is good to hear. I mean, it's good to

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Speaker 1: hear that those catchups are being offered as well. So

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Speaker 1: I mean to any parents out there listening that have

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Speaker 1: got children in those age categories, just talk us through

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Speaker 1: what they need to do from your understanding.

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Speaker 2: My understanding of this stage is they can just go

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Speaker 2: along to your one of your community healthcare centers or

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Speaker 2: to their GP and it will be given to them

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Speaker 2: free of charge from the first of January and saying that,

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Speaker 2: remember the first of January is a public holiday, so

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Speaker 2: book it into the second of January, especially if your

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Speaker 2: baby is about to turn two or your teenagers about

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Speaker 2: to turn twenty, get them booked in as soon as

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Speaker 2: you can, as long as they have their first post

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Speaker 2: before they turn two or before they turn twenty, they

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Speaker 2: will be covered. They can have a second goes after.

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Speaker 1: And in terms of how it rolls out like that

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Speaker 1: school program, do you know what that'll kind of look like.

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Speaker 1: I know that with the teenagers. Well, my understanding is

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Speaker 1: it with some of the different vaccines that they get,

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Speaker 1: we sort of get notification and then on a certain

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Speaker 1: day you know that they know that they're going to

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Speaker 1: receive a vaccine on Masumi that this will roll in

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Speaker 1: as part of that.

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Speaker 2: It will roll in as part of that. The same

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Speaker 2: way as they get them a nindacopple ACWY in year

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Speaker 2: nine they get two doses. They will now also get

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Speaker 2: the B for two doses. So everybody in year nine

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Speaker 2: ran about fourteen or fifteen. It's really important.

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Speaker 3: That they're there on that day.

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Speaker 2: If they're not, you need to go and get that

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Speaker 2: catch up VAC. The nation, it's easy to care. You

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Speaker 2: just grow through community care center and they'll organize that

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Speaker 2: for you.

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Speaker 1: And Karen, it seems it seems like a really good

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Speaker 1: move for the Northern Territory. Where are we at Australia wide?

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Speaker 1: How many states or territories now offer this vaccine for free.

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Speaker 3: Okay, Well, Northern Territory is a leader.

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Speaker 2: So first of all, we had South Australia towards end

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Speaker 2: of ours year, Queensland came on board.

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Speaker 3: Now Northern Territory and we're just waiting for the others

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Speaker 3: to do the same thing.

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Speaker 2: At the moment, a couple.

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Speaker 3: Of the premiers don't want to go there, but we will.

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Speaker 2: Get there, and federally we want to see it happen.

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Speaker 2: We've got elections coming up. It's a good time for

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Speaker 2: them to have a good think about it. Yeah, it is.

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Speaker 1: Look, I think it is a good move by the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory government and I've no doubt that we'll probably,

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Speaker 1: well hopefully we start to see some of the other

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Speaker 1: states do the same. Karen, It's like it always seemed

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Speaker 1: odd to me that the federal government didn't forge ahead

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Speaker 1: with this.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, it's because they've got this really old an equated

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Speaker 2: review system that they're currently reviewing but have been for years,

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Speaker 2: and vaccines just don't fit into this system. They move

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Speaker 2: the vaccines into this system. So while we're waiting for

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Speaker 2: them to review it, we need the state governments to

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Speaker 2: jump on board and let this and By doing that,

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Speaker 2: they're letting the federal government know our community want this,

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Speaker 2: we need this, and make it happen. They made it

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Speaker 2: happen back in two thousand and eighteen, Greg Hunky, he

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Speaker 2: changed the goalpost and we've got a c W Y

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Speaker 2: in Well.

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Speaker 1: Karen, it is really good to speak with you this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so very much for your time, and we'll

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Speaker 1: talk to you again at some point.

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Speaker 2: Okay to port, thank you, thanks so much