Members Statement: Covid-19 Vaccinations
Mr HIBBINS (Prahran) : I want to congratulate everyone in the Prahran electorate on a massive effort to get vaccinated. It was great to be out and about on the weekend meeting with people and seeing cafes open. I was not able to make it to the late-night singalong on Chapel Street, but I certainly share in the sentiments. I was really concerned that Victoria’s vaccination rates would hit a wall and reaching the 80 per cent target would be a struggle, but we did it ahead of time, so let us keep it going to 90 per cent and beyond.
Now, during this pandemic there has been a lot of finger-pointing about people breaking the rules and stereotyping about who might not be getting vaccinated, but what I have seen in our community is people, particularly young people, rising to the challenge to get vaccinated. I see people making considered decisions every single day to look after their health and wellbeing and that of their families and to do the right thing by the wider community, so I want to acknowledge the sacrifices and the hard work of everyone in our community.
I also want to acknowledge that it will still be a very difficult time for our healthcare workers in the following months and they will need our support and that for everyone there will still be a lot of healing to do after what has been an incredibly difficult past two years.