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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-05-14 Daily Xml
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Influenza Vaccinations

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:32): My question is to the health minister. I have been contacted today by a constituent with a family member in an aged-care facility who says some residents in nursing homes will need to wait at least a month to see their GP to get a flu shot, and he was concerned about residents with no family or with a mental incapacity to make a decision. Will the minister ask SA Health and/or the Public Advocate to look into this situation?

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, that is not really a supplementary, but given I was too easy in the last question time on supplementaries for the opposition, I am going to give you the call and allow that question, and then I am going to give the call to the Hon. Ms Bourke to ask another question. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:33): I think the President, with all due respect, meant supplementary.

The PRESIDENT: It is not a supplementary. I am allowing it as a question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I don't need commentary from the floor about the President's generosity.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I was just having trouble keeping up with the standing orders.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, please answer the Hon. Mr Pangallo's new question.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Hon. Mr Pangallo's question highlights the fact that residential aged-care facilities are fundamentally responsible for immunisation of their own residents. I am advised that normally they use immunisation providers or GPs. Both immunisation providers and the GPs may access their supplies through the National Immunisation Program, which I mentioned earlier.

I am very keen to make sure that as many South Australians as possible over the age of six months get vaccinated, and a key target group in that regard is the 65 years or older. I am pleased to advise the honourable member that the latest advice I have is that there have been a total of 256,000 flu vaccines that have been distributed for those over the age of 65 years. That, I am told, according to the census, is enough to vaccinate 85 per cent of the eligible South Australian population in this cohort.

In relation to the honourable member's particular concern about the constituent, I would certainly encourage the constituent to talk to the management of the residential aged-care facility to see what arrangements they can make to bring forward the vaccination. If that conversation is unsatisfactory, I would encourage him to contact the Communicable Disease Control Branch of SA Health.

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