Over the course of the pandemic, so many Victorians have given up so much to keep our state safe. Time with friends and family. Missed birthdays and special celebrations. Days at work and plans put on hold.

As this virus has turned our lives upside down, we’ve worked together to protect our loved ones and to protect each other. Every one of the reasons Victorians have stayed home, got tested and followed the rules is a reason to get vaccinated.

Victorian health services have been leading the way on vaccinations, administering more doses than health services in any other state or territory. AstraZeneca currently accounts for just over a quarter of all doses administered at Victorian vaccination centres.

We’ve seen young Victorians turn out in their thousands with AstraZeneca now available for 18- to 39-year-olds in state vaccination hubs – we need Victorians of all ages to mirror that enthusiasm and get vaccinated as soon as they can.

The Victorian Government is significantly expanding access to the vaccine for this age group across all of our AstraZeneca state vaccination centres, and capacity is being scaled up across the state-run system with more drive-through and mobile clinics.  The aim is to administer 1 million doses in the next five weeks.

More than 200,000 doses will be administered each week between August 16 and September 19, with sites operating with extended hours and with an additional 150 vaccination booths coming online.

To further meet the increased demand from Victorians coming forward to be vaccinated, new and convenient drive-through sites will be added in Wyndham, Melbourne’s south east and in the Hume/Whittlesea area.

These sites are being established in partnership with community, local government and industry groups. More details on the site locations will be provided soon.

To help reach our target, a new campaign has been launched today, encouraging Victorians to get vaccinated quickly – to protect themselves, their loved ones, and the entire community.

Initially running across print and digital platforms, the campaign will expand to television and target different age groups as we move through the rollout.

There are over 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments available now and more will become available. If you have any questions or concerns you can talk to a GP, pharmacist or to a senior and experienced immuniser at our state-run sites. The best vaccine you can get, is the one that you can get now.

Increasing our vaccination coverage in Victoria is particularly important given the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks and the potential for further interstate incursions this year.

All Victorians are encouraged where possible to book their vaccination appointment by visiting portal.cvms.vic.gov.au or by phoning the Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

For more information on Victoria’s vaccination centres, including locations and opening hours, visit  coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-centres.

For more information on the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 vaccination program, visit  health.vic.gov.au.

Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews

“There are a million things that we miss about life before the pandemic – and each of those is a reason to get vaccinated.”

“Victorians have shown us that they are ready and willing to come forward and get vaccinated, with over 98,000 doses administered in our state-run system since Monday and more than 10,000 more doses of AstraZeneca than the week before.”