Sydney’s first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs’ spiritual home, the Belmore Sports Ground, will launch this Friday.
The drive through clinic is in the heart of one of Sydney’s 12 hotspot Local Government Areas (LGA) and will offer Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next six weeks.
The City of Canterbury Bankstown Council, Bulldogs League Club and SES have provided volunteering and financial support to cover costs of contractors and traffic controllers.
One of the doctors who will be helping out at the clinic, Dr Jamal Rifi, told The Daily Telegraph he hopes to be able to deliver 1,000 jabs a day to people as they sit in their cars.
“We estimate from the time of arrival at the Belmore Sports Ground until they leave after the 15 minute observation period, will be no more than 30 minutes,” Dr Rifi said, while stressing that appointments will need to be made via “hotdoc.”
The Director of the Bulldogs Football Club and Deputy Chairman of the Canterbury Leagues Club, Jim Koutsouklakis, said that the Club didn’t hesitate to offer their grounds for the clinic as they want to “assist in any way we can.”
“We’re not telling people to get vaccinated. All we’re saying is that if the medical advice is that you get vaccinated, we’re making our facility available for the benefit of the local community to be able to partake in a safe and comfortable environment,” Mr Koutsouklakis told The Greek Herald.
Member for Canterbury, Sophie Cotsis MP, adds that she’s proud to see this drive through vaccination clinic up and running in Belmore, but its success will depend on how many vaccinations are available.
“This drive through vaccination hub will ensure that people continue to get access in their own backyard, but the effectiveness of this hub will be dependent on the number of vaccinations allocated by Federal and State Governments,” Ms Cotsis told The Greek Herald.
“Let’s make it a sprint to get as many people protected.”
