Ms Maxwell said it would give north-east residents more opportunity to be immunised against COVID-19.
She said she had been concerned, following the recent lockdown, that there were only three vaccinations hubs across an area of more than 100,000 sq km across Northern Victoria.
“With Northeast Health Wangaratta opening . . . Albury Wodonga Health reopening its Wodonga High St walk-in hub and Swan Hill open as a Bendigo sub-hub, there will now be six public vaccination centres available, together with private GP clinics,” Ms Maxwell said.
Tomorrow Today activity packs keeping kids busy during lockdowns
“These are welcome additions but we still don’t have enough public hubs across this vast region . . .
“At the same time, I remain very concerned that people trying to follow the government’s advice and book an appointment at one of these public hubs using the official 1800 number have found it very difficult to get through since lockdown began on Thursday (May 27).
“Surely it must be straightforward for the government to set up an online booking system which gathers your name, contact points, location and Medicare number and then generates an appointment time at the nearest hub that’s sent as a text message to your smartphone or email.”
Royal Freemasons Benalla given the all clear
Ms Maxwell also said business owners and managers had been frustrated by government delays in getting detailed information about its business support package, announced on Sunday, and eligibility criteria, published online.
“As I said (last) Friday, the government and its agencies should by now have a workable (system) in place so an affected business can calculate with confidence the financial support it can expect when a sudden ‘circuit-breaker’ forces a trading shutdown,” she said.
“Businesses have just 21 days from (June 1) to apply for payments of $2500 or, if a licensed hotel or restaurant, $3500.”
If you would like to send a letter to the editor on this, or any subject, click this link
