Making headway on vaccination
The first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in Bourke over a month ago, and the virus is spreading through the community.
Unfortunately, rumours, misinformation, and uncertainty about the vaccine have also spread quickly.
Pastor George Mann, from the Full Gospel Family Fellowship church, said many people were fearful of the vaccine in the early days, due to mixed messages from authorities.
“We were doing ok and were on key with AstraZeneca, until the stories that it was causing blood clots.
“The media kept playing it over and over, and it became a big scare factor.
“For me and others I know, we were lined up to get our shots, but we became uncertain.
“And then it was all too late, the scare was out there. We all thought we’d wait and see what happens, but we really didn’t have the time to wait.
“That time of uncertainty has put us behind where we could have been.
“We didn’t have the Pfizer option then either, but now they’re saying it’s ok to use either.
“There are plenty of vaccination clinics around and we are using our church as a vaccination hub. There’s no shortage of vaccines now, it’s just the hesitancy we need to beat.”
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