By Gabriella Payne
Children aged 5-11 years have begun rolling up their sleeves across the state as the Covid-19 vaccine was made available to youngsters on Monday 10 January.
Pakenham’s James Bathe Pavilion, home to the EACH Covid vaccination clinic, opened the doors to its separate childrens’ vaccine hub on Monday – a safe and welcoming space filled with colour and enchantment.
As part of the state government’s “forest of protection“ scheme, the childrens’ vaccination wing has been decorated with Australian flora, fauna and all sorts of fun facts in a bid to make the vaccination process a positive experience for both the kids and their parents.
With fun decorative imagery, views out to the expansive green oval, stepping stones from room to room and a showbag filled with goodies like colouring in books and fidget spinners (which each child receives after vaccination), there’s no doubt the hub as been designed with the utmost care and consideration for children.
Amanda, the team leader for operations at EACH, said that the design was all about “reducing the clinical environment“ for the kids and their families, and making the space “a little bit more fun and inviting“ for everyone.
“Today is the very first day we’ve opened,“ Amanda explained on Monday, “so it’s still new, but we want to make this a positive experience.“
Through every step of the process, the EACH team take great care in communicating what is going on to both parents and children, and answer any and all questions they may have.
There are currently four vaccination booths set up at the centre, each with a paediatric nurse administering the childrens’ vaccines (a small dose of Pfizer – a third of the size of the adult dose).
Administrative staff member and the hub’s facilitator, Jessica, said that once the children had received their dose, they walked through to the bright and open waiting area, where they could watch kid friendly TV programs and take part in other interactive activities while being monitored for 15 minutes.
“We bring the kids [and their parents] through here,“ Jessica explained, gesturing to the waiting area, “and they get to write their names on a little leaf and then they can stick it on our vaccination tree.“
“So all the kids that have been vaccinated get to stick their names on the tree and sort of feel like they’ve contributed to something or that they’ve got that little notion of ‘oh, I did something really cool’.
“They also get their little colouring book, a stress ball to play with and a little fidget spinner, so they do feel like afterwards they get a big reward and that it was something good and something fun… it’s what I wish my vaccinations were like!“ she laughed.
Both Amanda and Jessica said that all the kids who had received their jabs so far had “done really well“ and they looked forward to welcoming more kids and their parents in the near future.
Parents and guardians can book at one of the 18 state-run vaccination centres offering child vaccinations online or through the coronavirus hotline.
For more information and to book your child’s first dose – visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine or call the hotline on 1800 675 398.
