The federal government's rollout of Pfizer vaccines to GPs has begun.
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Culburra Beach Medical Centre is one of nine general practices in the South Eastern NSW region to be first off the ranks with more GPs to be added.
More than 500 GPs around Australia began administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, July 5 with more than 1300 GPs expected to administer the Pfizer mRNA jabs by the end of July.
Greg Davis, CEO of Shoalhaven Family Medical Centres, which has centres in Vincentia, Worrigee, Basin View and Culburra Beach said the government is rolling the Pfizer out in weekly intervals.
"Culburra Beach got the Pfizer this week, Basin View will be next week and Vincentia will be the following week," Mr Davis said.
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The Department of Health said all 5100 GPs participating in the vaccine rollout will have the opportunity to administer the Pfizer vaccine by later this year as more supplies of Pfizer become available.
The GP rollout of the Pfizer jab was made possible when it received Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval for it to be kept at normal freezer temperatures during transport and at fridge temperatures for five days.
The vaccine's manufacturers originally believed it needed to be kept at sub-zero temperatures between -90 degrees Celsius and -60C.
All adults over the age of 40 are currently eligible for vaccination with those under 40 expected to become eligible for a Pfizer or Moderna shot around September or October, according to Lieutenant General John Frewen who heads up the COVID-19 vaccine taskforce.
AstraZeneca is recommended for Australians over 60 but is open to under 40s with informed consent with their GPs.
During Culburra Beach Medical Centre's first day of administering the vaccine, time was set aside to check over the Pfizer vaccine process in order to make it as safe and smooth as possible.
"We did a small roll out on Monday [July 5] ready to start doing bigger lists from next week," Mr Davis said.
He said he suspected the government was staging the GP Pfizer rollout in weekly intervals in order to guarantee there would be enough supply for second shots.
"The quicker we get people vaccinated, the quicker we get back to some sort of normalcy," he said.
"To put a smile on people's dials, one of the most common statements I hear when we do the vaccination is 'it doesn't look as big as it does on TV'."
All GPs participating in the vaccination rollout can be found through the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder- https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-checker
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