ALL essential workers in Victoria will be required to have a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by October, following an announcement from Premier Daniel Andrews at a press conference on Friday.
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The vaccine mandate will apply to essential workers in both metro Melbourne and regional Victoria, with a deadline of October 15 to continue to work on site. Full vaccination will be required by November 26.
The October deadline will not apply to workers who already have existing requirements under CHO directions - groups like construction, freight, healthcare, aged care and education will still have to comply with previous advice.
Under the new mandate, the Victorian government will expand their existing GP and pharmacy grant program for priority local government areas in regional Victoria.
Mr Andrews said the decision was made to relieve the pressure off of the state's health system, and protect health care workers from being overwhelmed.
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"All of our health workers are working their guts out to be there for us and they need us all to do our bit and get vaccinated, so we can continue on our pathway to opening," he said.
The Department of Health has also confirmed that the number of vaccines administered totalled 34,935 on Thursday while there were 62,883 test results received.
Deputy Premier James Merlino detailed the Term 4 return to school schedule for regional Victorians.
From Monday, only students in prep, grade one and two, and year 12 students will return to school full-time but the roadmap, outlined by Mr Merlino, will see all regional students back in full time classes on October 26.
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