Mandurah not in initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout, poll results released

Thousands of aged care residents in Australia, at more than 240 facilities, will receive their first COVID-19 vaccine dose this week. The facilities are located across Australia in over 190 towns and suburbs in rural and urban areas in every state and territory.

In WA they are Balcatta, Bunbury, Calista, Carey Park, Cooloongup, Donnybrook, Eaton, Emu Point, Kingsley, Lockyer, Madeley, Marangaroo, Mirrabooka, Port Kennedy, Rockingham, Shoalwater, South Bunbury, Spencer Park, Waikiki and Yakamia.

Two nurses became the first West Australians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, saying they hope it will save lives and ease the strain on the healthcare system.

Hotel quarantine nurses Antonio Garza and Keita Winks each received the Pfizer jab at the Hyatt in Perth, marking the start of WA's rollout.

Quarantine and international border workers and high-risk frontline healthcare staff in aged and disability care are first in line to get the jab in WA.

About 570 hotel quarantine workers have booked in across Monday and Tuesday and the number is expected to grow to 1000 by the end of the week.

But a poll by the Mandurah Mail shows just 60 per cent of Peel residents say they will get the vaccine when it's available to them.

Another 30 per cent say they will refuse while 10 per cent are unsure.

"I understand that people are afraid and are hesitant and there's a lot of misinformation about it that's making people afraid. But I'm all for it," Ms Winks said.

Premier Mark McGowan said he looked forward to the vaccine being rolled out across the state by the end of the year.

"When it's your turn to get the vaccine, please get the vaccine," he said.

"It's in your own interests, it's in the community's interest, it's especially in the interests of older West Australians so it's a great thing to do."

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said the first morning of the rollout had gone off without a hitch.

"We would strongly encourage all of our frontline workers who have been invited to register to receive the vaccine as soon as possible," he said.

WA Health communicable disease expert Paul Effler said the rollout would allow Australia to switch from defence to offence against the virus.

He said about 160 million people had already been inoculated in the United States and about 17 million in the United Kingdom.

"Both those countries have really good safety monitoring systems and we haven't seen an untoward safety signal," Dr Effler said.

"That's an enormous safety database so I think we can all feel reassured about that. Everything we're learning from an international perspective is positive."