A thousand doses have arrived into regional South Australia, with Murray Bridge Hospital set to deliver the first AstraZeneca vaccines in the country.
“It’s a feeling of excitement and relief that it’s finally here, that we’re prepared, we’ve got our staff trained, we’re ready to go,” hospital director of midwifery and nursing Sharon Harrison said.
First in the queue are 90 frontline health and emergency workers.
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the AstraZeneca shot does not need to be kept in special freezers, meaning it is easier to transport to regional centres.
“We are a geographically diverse country,” SA Health Minister Stephen Wade said.
“To get this vaccine to every South Australian, we need AstraZeneca.”
Fifty million doses of the vaccine are set to be manufactured on home soil, from the CSL factory in Melbourne.
This content first appear on 9news