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Victoria recorded 12,250 cases of COVID-19 and 31 deaths on Saturday, as more than a dozen vaccination clinics popped up in schools across the state in an effort to lift the child vaccination rates before school returns next week.
To date, almost 40 per cent of five to 11-year-olds in Victoria have been vaccinated with one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with another 12,991 children booked in to get the jab at state-run clinics over the next week.
Almost 40 per cent of five to 11-year-olds in Victoria have received one dose of the vaccine.Credit:iStock
However, authorities want to reach a vaccination coverage of 90 per cent for that age bracket by the end of next month, amid fears the return of students to the classroom could lead to a spike in infections in coming months.
On Friday, Health Minister Martin Foley said there were more than 580,000 children eligible for the Pfizer paediatric vaccine who were yet to receive it.
“We’re somewhere in the high 30 per cent. That’s a strong number. But of course, as I understand it, there are over half a million young Victorians in that age bracket,” he said.
“We want to see every one of those who are eligible to get vaccinated. That’s our target. That’s how we’re going to drive down the Omicron variant.”
Vaccination clinics at Dandenong Plaza, Caroline Springs, Sunshine Hospital, and Campbellfield Ford have opened up to walk-up appointments for children in a bid to speed up the process and authorities plan to set up another 15 pop-up sites at schools next week.
To date, authorities have delivered more than 2 million rapid antigen tests to state, Catholic and independent schools in preparation for the start of the year, with another 4 million to be delivered before Monday.
“How those schools get those out to their communities and their families are matters that those communities are best placed to deal with,” Mr Foley said.
“I am a very firm believer that will empower those school communities, those families to take the steps in partnership with their schools, in partnership with the health system to ensure that in the likelihood that there is some level of outbreak at schools that they can respond quickly.”
There are currently 79,836 active cases of coronavirus across the state. Of the new infections reported by authorities on Saturday, 6244 came from PCR tests, while 6006 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests.
A total of 953 Victorians infected with coronavirus are being cared for in hospital, including 114 in intensive care and 39 on a ventilator.
Victorian state-run clinics administered more than 22,139 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, taking the percentage of triple-vaccinated Victorians to more than 35 per cent.
Australia recorded its deadliest day since the pandemic began on Friday with 98 deaths reported nationwide. Of those 39 were in Victoria – the highest number of fatalities recorded on a single day in the state since the outbreak of either the Delta or Omicron strains of the virus.
All reported deaths in Victoria occurred in the last week, with the majority taking place over the past three days. They were aged in their 30s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
New South Wales recorded 35 deaths, Queensland 18 and the ACT one and South Australia five.
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