Woolies turns shuttered Big W stores into vax hubs
WOOLWORTHS is the latest company to pledge its commitment to supporting the ambition of federal and state governments to increase Covid-19 vaccination levels, by launching vaccination hubs that will administer up to 20,000 vaccine doses for staff and their family members in closed Big W stores.
A pilot clinic at one shuttered Big W store in Sydney had already issued 200 vaccines in its first week.
The supermarket giant launched the vaccination hubs to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to its team members and their families in western Sydney local government areas that had been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the assistance of the federal government National Covid Vaccine Taskforce, Woolworths established the pop-up vaccination hubs at its shuttered Wetherill Park and Canterbury-Bankstown Big W stores.
Another hub is set to open at the Big W Carnes Hill store in order to help cover the Liverpool and Canterbury LGA communities from later in the month.
The three Big W stores have been closed to in-store customers since late July.
The opening of the hubs comes as Woolworths also works to roll out rapid antigen testing across all of its distribution sites after a successful trial of the Covid-19 tool at four worksites in Sydney.
The rapid-testing station has been expanded to 11 sites across NSW and Victoria, and a further eight sites will be added in the coming weeks.
Under the retailer’s guidelines, Woolworths team members and contractors must now conduct rapid antigen tests in a pop-up clinic before entering worksites.
Woolworths has conducted more than 54,000 tests to date.
As a result of the rapid antigen testing, Woolworths said it had not had a major Covid-19 exposure in any of its distribution centres since August 27.
Meanwhile, Woolworths head of Covid response Ross Spencer said the retailer was pleased to play a part in accelerating the national vaccine rollout with the federal government by establishing the pop-up vaccine hubs at the closed Big W stores.
“Making vaccine access easy and simple is key to driving uptake,” Mr Spencer said.
“We’ve seen that in our distribution centres already and we’re seeing it now as we stand up these vaccination hubs.
“Our pilot clinic in Wetherill Park has administered more than 200 doses in the first week and bookings are growing as more team members become familiar with it.
“We’re working with the federal government to open similar vaccination hubs across the country as opportunities become available.”
Woolworths has linked up with accredited provider International SOS to lead the vaccination process, governance, and reporting requirements to NSW Health.