TWO local Labor mayoral candidates are calling for a vaccination hub to be established in Coffs Harbour.

Tony Judge, mayoral candidate for Coffs Harbour and Andrew Woodward, mayoral candidate for Bellingen have united their voices, calling on the state government to create a mass vaccination hub to service the Coffs and Bellingen areas.

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According to a Labor statement, “Analysis of official government information reveals people on the Coffs Coast and the wider north coasts are facing scarce supplies, long delays or a lack of information on availability of the vaccines.”

Tony Judge spoke with News Of The Area.

“It’s been through good luck rather than good management that we haven’t had a local COVID-19 outbreak yet.

“People in the Coffs region want to do the right thing and get vaccinated, but state and federal governments need to up their effort.”

He stated that Coffs needs a mass vaccination clinic as a matter of urgency.

“We need to rapidly accelerate the rollout of both vaccines to give ourselves the best chance possible to keep the Coffs Coast COVID-19 free,” he said.

“There’s no shortage of locations on the Coffs Coast where the government could establish a mass vaccination clinic for people in the Coffs Harbour City and Bellingen Shire LGAs.”

Andrew Woodward agrees wholeheartedly but says it is the availability of the vaccine that is preventing uptake.

“The old adage that prevention is better than cure has never been more relevant,” he said.

“But even if you want to do the right thing and get vaccinated, you face a nightmare.

“It is ridiculous that nearly two thirds of the locations promoted as having vaccines have no information available.

He continued, “Worse still, only 14 percent of locations say they have availability in the next month.

“These delays put people at risk and may cause other people to give up.

“The Premier keeps telling us to get vaccinated yet most can’t even if they want to.”

By Sandra MOON