Summary

Syringe used to administer the first COVID-19 vaccination at the Melbourne Airport Vaccination Hub run by Western Health. It was administered at 9:08am on Monday 22 February 2021 at Melbourne Airport by Richard Bartolo, Manager of Infection Prevention at Western Health.

The recipient was Laloma Carstens, a registered nurse and Assistant Nurse Unit Manager (ANUM), who is working to administer the Pfizer vaccine at the Melbourne Airport COVID Vaccination Hub and Sunshine Hospital Vaccination Hub. Laloma is an ANUM in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Sunshine Hospital and worked with COVID-19 patients during the first and second waves of Victoria's COVID-19 pandemic. Western Health's Intensive Care Units were the most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak during that time, with the highest number of patients with COVID-19 of any ICU in Australia. The Melbourne Airport Vaccination Hub is run by Western Health and is responsible for vaccinating border staff, including flight crew, and hospital staff within their catchment area.

Marion Kainer, Head of Infectious Diseases at Western Health, describes the vaccine as 'liquid gold', she notes that the process from the time when the multidose vial comes out of the refrigerator and it's thawed, to the time that it is reconstituted with putting in this normal saline, drawing up those syringes, and checking it off, actually takes 40 minutes, so it's done very carefully 'this is an amazing vaccine and we want to make sure we don't waste any of it.'

The Pfizer vaccine (COMIRNATY) was the first COVID-19 vaccine to be provisionally approved and included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) on 25 January 2021 for active immunisation to prevent COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in people 16 and older. On 15 February 2021 more than 142,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Sydney airport to be distributed to vaccination hubs across Australia. The vaccination program began on Monday 22 February, although a small number of people in Sydney received their first vaccinations on Sunday 21 February with Jane Malysiak the first recipient. The vaccination program has been staged with quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, and aged and disability care residents and staff first in line to be vaccinated. In Victoria Monash Health, Western Health, the Austin and Barwon Health have all been involved in the initial Pfizer vaccine roll-out. The first Victorian vaccinations took place at Monash Hospital followed by Melbourne Airport and then the Austin Hospital.

Physical Description

A medium sized box and lid with figure of a girl baking on top label. Insciption reads "TOYTOWN Children's PLASTIC CANISTER SETS". Box contains six, mottled, dark brown canisters increasing in size labelled: coffee, tea, rice, oatmeal, sugar, flour.

Significance

This syringe is significant as it reflects the beginning of a new stage in the COVID-19 pandemic as vaccination will eventually allow for the freer movement of people, both within Australia and globally, and lessening of restrictions designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 including mask-wearing, limits on gathering and the use of lockdowns.

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