Posted on August 10, 2020
Children in Tasmania’s remote township of Strahan have been given access to free influenza vaccines this winter, preventing the need for families to travel to the West Coast District Hospital in Queenstown amid Coronavirus restrictions.
Petuna Aquaculture, one of the town’s largest employers, is covering the cost for any children living in Strahan to have the flu vaccine during its own employee vaccine drive, running over June and July.
Petuna CEO Ruben Alvarez said in response to COVID-19, the company had implemented a vast range of precautionary measures to protect its employees, which included ensuring they all received a flu vaccine.
“We know from government advice that having the flu vaccine helps ease the burden on the state’s health system, so we thought we would extend the service offering to the children in the town as well,” Mr Alvarez said.
“With COVID measures in place, many locals were reluctant to travel to the hospital in Queenstown, so the idea was to eliminate that requirement and stress for many families.
“We recognise at a time like this, there is not a lot of good news going around, so it is nice to be able to do something positive for those who have supported us.”