Culturally sensitive vaccination centres boost jabs in arms
Melbourne's Muslim communities are benefitting from culturally sensitive vaccination hubs.
BY ESTHER LINDER
Muslim community leaders in northern Melbourne have lifted vaccination rates to almost 80 per cent, aided by a culturally-sensitive vaccination hub at the Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) in Thornbury.
Founder and director of the IMA, Moustafa Fahour, said the pop-up was organised in response to overwhelming demand from the local community for a vaccination clinic that was culturally sensitive to the needs of the local community.
“It was about providing supply that was accessible, but also culturally appropriate,” Mr Fahour said.
“Say for Muslim women, for example, so they can go into a closed booth and don’t necessarily need to roll up their sleeves, to a man, or in an open area.”
Run by a large partnership of the IMA, the Islamic Society of Victoria, the Victorian Department of Health, Your Community Health, Darebin Council and Preston Mosque, the pop-up hub ran from Tuesday 28 September until Saturday 2 October with both
Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines available.
Mr Fahour said previously low vaccination rates were not a result of vaccine
hesitancy, but rather about supply and culturally sensitive accessibility.
By prioritising vaccine supply to COVID-affected areas (as was done in western Sydney) has seen vaccination rates jump from 40 per cent to above 80 per cent in multiple council areas in just over three weeks.
The IMA hub was staffed by multilingual practitioners, supporting speakers of Bahasa, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Somali. Booths were closed off from public view to ensure privacy.
Thornbury resident Katie Sparkes attended the hub for her second Pfizer dose and said her experience was fast, efficient and friendly.
“When I think about it, everyone I interacted with was a woman,” Ms Sparkes said.
She confirmed that the booths were private and her shot was administered by a female medical practitioner.
More pop-up vaccination hubs are planned across northern metropolitan Melbourne, with the Department of Health partnering with other community organisations similar to the IMA to speed up the vaccine rollout.
For more information, or to find a pop-up hub, visit: coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-centres, or call the Victorian Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398.
