Bingara Medical Centre’s new vaccine fridge, courtesy of a $7,500 State Government grant, is keeping vital COVID-19 vaccine properly stored with clinic manager Ann-Maree Anderson, left, Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, Dr Lushanth Aloysious and practice nurse Tina McGarrity.
Thursday, 12 August 2021
POWER outages will no longer have any effect on vital vaccines being stored at Bingara Medical Centre (RARMS Health), with Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall last week inspecting its new vaccine fridge and battery storage system, purchased using a $7,500 State Government grant.
Clinic management wrote to Mr Marshall asking for support to buy a new fridge, when their old appliance started to struggle to keep vaccines cold during black-outs.
“It is so important for the success of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out that medical clinics have appropriate storages to keep their jabs cold,” Mr Marshall said.
“While the importance of cold chain management has been widely reported in association with the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, it is also a must for routine vaccines that are administered to the community.
“With regular black-outs plaguing the Bingara Medical Centre, its 16 year old former vaccine fridge has struggled to keep vaccines at the required temperature, jeopardising its quality.
“Now the clinic has a new reliable fridge with a back-up uninterrupted battery supply (UPS), which will kick in when the power goes off.
“This means the clinic will not lose precious vaccines in a power outage, which in turn means no delays for the weekly COVID vaccination clinics.
“While ever the pandemic continues this fridge is one of the most important appliances the clinic has.
“I thank Health Minister Brad Hazzard for quickly making these funds available and helping to prevent vital, scarce vaccines potentially going to waste.”
RARMS CEO Mark Burdack said Bingara now has the latest technology for maintaining cold chain storage.
“This fridge which will ensure that many medications like our COVID and Flu vaccines remain effective evening during a power outage,” Mr Burdack said.
“The vaccine fridge and UPS battery backup has been delivered and was installed by Mitch Anderson Electrical and Air Conditioning from Inverell.
“We would like to thank Adam for caring for the health of the local community in Bingara through his support of RARMS.”