1
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,320
Speaker 1: Well, let's get straight into it because joining us on

2
00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,520
Speaker 1: the line right now is Beavini Patel, who is the

3
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:08,840
Speaker 1: vaccine lead here in the Northern Territory.

4
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,480
Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Berevini.

5
00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:12,119
Speaker 3: Hillo there, How are you today?

6
00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,520
Speaker 2: Very well? Thank you so much for your time.

7
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,919
Speaker 1: Now, Bevini, there has been a lot of discussion this

8
00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:22,280
Speaker 1: morning about the COVID vaccine data. We've got the federal

9
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,159
Speaker 1: government saying one thing, the territory government saying another. But

10
00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,960
Speaker 1: I guess the reality of it is you and your

11
00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,480
Speaker 1: team who are on the ground would know exactly how

12
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,200
Speaker 1: we're looking when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine.

13
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,720
Speaker 3: That's correct, and you know, I think that you know,

14
00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,360
Speaker 3: I'm going to The sort of data discussion is interesting.

15
00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,280
Speaker 3: But what we need right now is Territorians to feel

16
00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,440
Speaker 3: comfortable to make a booking. And as you know, the

17
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:57,120
Speaker 3: Palmeston Vaccination Center open today. We've had seventeen hundred appointments

18
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,120
Speaker 3: made for this week for people in the Palmestan and

19
00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,160
Speaker 3: rural area. And the data is the data, and we're

20
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,039
Speaker 3: only going to get increases in the data if people

21
00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,680
Speaker 3: roll up their leaves and book an appointment.

22
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:11,759
Speaker 2: That is such a good point.

23
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,840
Speaker 1: And you know, at the end of the day, I

24
00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,800
Speaker 1: think that no matter where we're sitting when you talk

25
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,640
Speaker 1: about those numbers, what we need is to try and

26
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,720
Speaker 1: get as many Territorians vaccinated as possible.

27
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 2: Bavini, how many people are you able to.

28
00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,160
Speaker 1: Get through that new vaccine hub out in Palmerston firstly

29
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:30,520
Speaker 1: through each week.

30
00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,959
Speaker 3: So we've got really good capacity at the Palmerston Hub.

31
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:41,480
Speaker 3: There's fourteen vaccination stations. We've got capacity to have children

32
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:43,959
Speaker 3: twelve years and over and as you know, they were

33
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,480
Speaker 3: included last week. So we've got booth set up for

34
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,240
Speaker 3: children over the age of twelve and we've got fourteen stations,

35
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,560
Speaker 3: so we'll be able to do you know, well in

36
00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 3: excess of five hundred people a day.

37
00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,640
Speaker 2: Wow, there's some good numbers.

38
00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,400
Speaker 1: And I know that there's plenty of people out there

39
00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:08,079
Speaker 1: probably right now actually getting their vaccines. BEVENI how has

40
00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,640
Speaker 1: the I know that the role out in some of

41
00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,040
Speaker 1: our more sort of you know, a bit further out

42
00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,480
Speaker 1: of Darwin, so even Palmerston and Lichfield, how's the role

43
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,000
Speaker 1: out gone in some of those areas.

44
00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:26,959
Speaker 3: So we've obviously had three venues available through anti health

45
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,280
Speaker 3: in the Darwin region. So we've had the Royal Darwin

46
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:35,400
Speaker 3: Hospital Hub for healthcare professionals, we've had Tracy Village and

47
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,959
Speaker 3: also the Darwin Vaccination Center at Marara. But we remember

48
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,800
Speaker 3: that we're also partnering with our GPS and community pharmacists

49
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:51,120
Speaker 3: and also with Danella Dilber who's Aboriginal Medical Service, and

50
00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,359
Speaker 3: the Palmerston Respiratory Clinic. So we've got opportunities for people

51
00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,120
Speaker 3: to get vaccinated through all of those GPS that are participating.

52
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,680
Speaker 3: And we've got GPS in Palmerston, in Bakewell in Humpty

53
00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:10,600
Speaker 3: Do delivering the vaccine, and we've also got Danella Dilber

54
00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,840
Speaker 3: and the Palmerston Respiratory Clinic offering vaccinations already in the

55
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 3: Palmerston area.

56
00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,520
Speaker 1: And how I'm not too sure how far you know

57
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,280
Speaker 1: your lead goes out when we talk then about those

58
00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,000
Speaker 1: remote communities, but I know that we have seen in

59
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,720
Speaker 1: some of those remote communities a fantastic take up of

60
00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,440
Speaker 1: the vaccine rollout, whereas others there's been real hesitancy and

61
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,360
Speaker 1: in some cases extreme misinformation.

62
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,960
Speaker 3: I think as well, yeah, that's that's correct, and it's

63
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,600
Speaker 3: not just in the remote community. So we've got really

64
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,000
Speaker 3: good uptake, right across the territory in some some communities

65
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,800
Speaker 3: and subpopulations, and then in other communities or subpopulations there

66
00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 3: is either hesitancy or this sort of thinking that well,

67
00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,880
Speaker 3: we haven't had COVID community spread in the territory, so

68
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,119
Speaker 3: I don't really need to be worried about that. We're

69
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:12,040
Speaker 3: using our lockdowns and our public health activities like wearing

70
00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:17,120
Speaker 3: masks and social distancing, and that's going to keep us safe. Now,

71
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,800
Speaker 3: what I would say to those people is just to

72
00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,200
Speaker 3: look to what's happening in New South Wales where their

73
00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,760
Speaker 3: one community case has now spread to know, literally thousands

74
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,760
Speaker 3: of cases every day, and people in regional New South Wales,

75
00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:40,000
Speaker 3: which is a long way from Sydney now having community spread.

76
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,560
Speaker 3: And so the best way for us to protect ourselves,

77
00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,640
Speaker 3: whether you live in a remote community or in an

78
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,479
Speaker 3: urban center in the Northern Territory is to get yourself

79
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 3: vaccinated as soon as possible. Unlike other jurisdictions, we don't

80
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,960
Speaker 3: have any problems with stock and supply. There's plenty of

81
00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:06,159
Speaker 3: vaccination appointments available either through the NTY Health Vaccination Center

82
00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,800
Speaker 3: like the new one in Palmerston, or three Year Pharmacists

83
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,040
Speaker 3: three your GP or three your aboriginal medical service. So

84
00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,560
Speaker 3: I think that's my key message is the delta variant

85
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:23,360
Speaker 3: is highly contagious. We need to protect ourselves now, and

86
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,760
Speaker 3: we do have appointments available right across the NT, including

87
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,679
Speaker 3: visiting teams to the remote communities and also vaccine being

88
00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:38,320
Speaker 3: available at the health center, so people don't need to

89
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,320
Speaker 3: wait for the visiting team to come. They can pop

90
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,159
Speaker 3: to their local remote health center and be able to

91
00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,280
Speaker 3: get vaccinated at their convenience.

92
00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:48,120
Speaker 2: BAVENI.

93
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,000
Speaker 1: Two of the biggest things that I hear from people

94
00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,960
Speaker 1: who are vaccine hesitant, well, one of them is I

95
00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,760
Speaker 1: don't know what's in the vaccine. What would you say

96
00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,479
Speaker 1: to those people listening this morning who have that mindset

97
00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,280
Speaker 1: at the moment that they don't know what's in it.

98
00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,120
Speaker 1: They don't want to put something in their body that

99
00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:08,800
Speaker 1: they may have an adverse reaction to.

100
00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:15,320
Speaker 3: Well, that's certainly a very important piece of information that

101
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,800
Speaker 3: people need to be reassured that you know, whatever's going

102
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,400
Speaker 3: into their body, whether it's a vaccine or any other medicine,

103
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,400
Speaker 3: that they've got good information. And the best place to

104
00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:32,280
Speaker 3: get good information is either on the anti Corona virus website.

105
00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,719
Speaker 3: We've got some frequently asked questions, and there is a

106
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:40,520
Speaker 3: question that explains exactly what's in the vaccine. And also

107
00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,080
Speaker 3: talking with your trusted healthcare professional, so whether it's your GP,

108
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,040
Speaker 3: your pharmacists or the nurse at your local health center

109
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,240
Speaker 3: and they will be able to go through in detail

110
00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,440
Speaker 3: what's in the vaccine. And just for the listeners, you

111
00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,960
Speaker 3: know that there's two different types of vaccines that we've

112
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,520
Speaker 3: got in Australia at the moment. They both contain the

113
00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:11,040
Speaker 3: active ingredient, which is the either a piece of Messinger

114
00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:21,080
Speaker 3: m NRA or a piece of a virus that is deactivated,

115
00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,360
Speaker 3: and that's what stimulates your body to produce your immune response.

116
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,120
Speaker 3: And then there's other things like we do when we're

117
00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,800
Speaker 3: making a cake. There's a bit of water, a bit

118
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:36,160
Speaker 3: of emulsifier to keep the medicine stable, and a bit

119
00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,720
Speaker 3: of salt to make sure it's at the right what

120
00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,920
Speaker 3: we call osmolality, so your body it doesn't sting when

121
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,240
Speaker 3: we put it into your arm.

122
00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,480
Speaker 1: BAVENI, you know, I guess to really break it down

123
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:50,760
Speaker 1: to Layman's terms.

124
00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,400
Speaker 2: You know, every year many.

125
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,280
Speaker 1: Of us go out and get our flu vaccine and

126
00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,360
Speaker 1: we you know, we don't question, what is in that vaccine?

127
00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,560
Speaker 1: Why do you think that some people are feeling so

128
00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 1: worried that there's something in this COVID vaccine that you

129
00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,960
Speaker 1: know that is I don't know that they're scared of.

130
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think I think there's probably a couple

131
00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,920
Speaker 3: of things. We've all been living with uncertainty with the

132
00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,520
Speaker 3: coronavirus pandemic for you know, over eighteen months now. And

133
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,920
Speaker 3: I know myself and the people that I you know,

134
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,280
Speaker 3: that are in my family and friends, that low you know,

135
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,520
Speaker 3: that sort of low level anxiety has been with us

136
00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,079
Speaker 3: for a long time, and so we sort of are

137
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,160
Speaker 3: in this situation where we don't know what's going to

138
00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,960
Speaker 3: happen tomorrow. We don't know whether there's a lockdown, you know,

139
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,880
Speaker 3: whether we're going to be in lockdown. We don't know

140
00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,280
Speaker 3: if we get on a plane that we might be

141
00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,400
Speaker 3: in an exposure situation. So that anxiety has been with

142
00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,640
Speaker 3: us for a very long period of time, and so

143
00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,800
Speaker 3: when there are options for you know, whether we do lockdowns,

144
00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,320
Speaker 3: whether whether the borders should be closed, whether we should

145
00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,000
Speaker 3: be vaccinated, those kind of questions take on a much

146
00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:13,600
Speaker 3: bigger meaning for us. Then, say the fluvacs are you know,

147
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 3: prior to COVID, where it was just part of you know,

148
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,480
Speaker 3: this is what we do every year. Yeah, so I

149
00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,000
Speaker 3: think that sort of low level anxiety that we've been

150
00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,320
Speaker 3: living with for a long time really makes us question

151
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,640
Speaker 3: and we don't really know what the right thing to

152
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,120
Speaker 3: do is, and so it makes us question a little

153
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 3: bit more the decisions that are where being asked to

154
00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:36,880
Speaker 3: mate as part of the pandemic response.

155
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:37,800
Speaker 2: Yeah.

156
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,800
Speaker 1: But any one of the other things that I hear

157
00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 1: quite often is why do I.

158
00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,080
Speaker 2: Need to get it if I could still get COVID.

159
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,040
Speaker 3: Yeah. So again, if we look to what's happening in

160
00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:54,040
Speaker 3: New South Wales, lots of people are going to hospital,

161
00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,760
Speaker 3: people are ending up needing intensive care treatment, and unfortunately

162
00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,400
Speaker 3: we've had a number of deaths from this current outbreak

163
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,000
Speaker 3: in the South Wales. And when we look at those

164
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:12,360
Speaker 3: people who've ended up in hospital and unfortunately passing away,

165
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:18,320
Speaker 3: most of them have either been unvaccinated or only partially

166
00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,400
Speaker 3: vaccinated in that they've only had one dose. And so

167
00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:26,079
Speaker 3: what the vaccine does is it protects you from severe

168
00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:34,680
Speaker 3: disease and limits how strong the COVID, how unwell COVID

169
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,599
Speaker 3: is going to make you. So there's a small percentage

170
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,560
Speaker 3: of people who get the vaccine will get an infection.

171
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,920
Speaker 3: It's around five less than five percent. But it's if

172
00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,800
Speaker 3: you have the vaccine and you do get COVID, you're

173
00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,319
Speaker 3: not You're going to get less severe disease and you're

174
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,920
Speaker 3: not going to end up in hospital or in ICU.

175
00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 3: And that's the benefit of getting the vaccine is a

176
00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,800
Speaker 3: small percentage of people who get the vaccine may get COVID,

177
00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,440
Speaker 3: but it won't be as bad as if you are unvaccinated.

178
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:13,880
Speaker 1: Well, Bevini Patel, the vaccination lead here in the Northern Territory,

179
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,920
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with us this

180
00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,480
Speaker 1: morning at incredibly short notice and really trying to break

181
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,880
Speaker 1: that down as simply as possible for our listeners.

182
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the key message is we've got appointments available.

183
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,559
Speaker 3: We've got plenty of supply, so either hop online or

184
00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,400
Speaker 3: ring the eighteen hundred number to make yourself an appointment

185
00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,000
Speaker 3: in the next week or so. That's my challenge to territoriums.

186
00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,000
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Bevini. I really appreciate you speaking

187
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:41,800
Speaker 1: with us this morning.

188
00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:43,480
Speaker 3: Great, Thank you so much.

189
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:44,439
Speaker 2: Thank you