As regional New South Wales braces for Sydney travellers in early November, two mobile vaccination vans will be visiting small communities in western New South Wales.
It is part of the partnership between the Western New South Wales Local Health District and the Australian Defence Force, which have been running numerous pop-up clinics since the delta outbreak in the state's west during August.
The two vans, named 'Spike' and 'Jabba', have already been in Walgett last week.
Chief executive of the Western Local Health District (LHD) Scott McLachlan said the vans "were very well-received" and accounted "for around half of the total vaccinations that were administered there that day".
Now the LHD was looking to move the vans to more than 20 small communities to help increase double-dose vaccination rates.
“As restrictions ease, we know there will be more movement around the state which, in turn, presents an increased risk of COVID-19 continuing to spread around our district," Mr McLachlan said.
Vaccinations will start in the small towns of Tooraweenah and Eumungerie, which both have populations of fewer than 350 people.
Mr McLachlan said it was important to hit these smaller towns that had not had the same access to vaccinations previously.
"It's an extra effort to help us get vaccination opportunities to a lot of our smaller rural communities that may not have had the ADF pop-up clinics or vaccination hubs," he said.
Around 83.7 per cent of the Gilgandra Shire, which includes Tooraweenah, is already double vaccinated, and 79.9 per cent are double vaccinated in the Dubbo Regional Council, where Eumungerie is located.
From there, the vans will travel to several small towns in the western region, including Geurie, Cudal, Elong-Elong, Sofala and Hill End. They will also be making visits to Lake Burrendong, Lake Kanopolis, and Ben Chifley Dam.
The vans will provide both first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, with no appointment needed.
Mr McLachlan said it was a push for anyone without a vaccination yet, but he also wanted children to come along.
"We'd love to see students come here if they can," he said.
