New flu and COVID jabs

A SLOW start in the uptake of the flu vaccine is prompting local pharmacies to call on residents to book their flu and COVID-19 shots as soon as possible.

Mapp and Hession pharmacy part-owner Paul Hession said the flu shot will protect residents — especially our elderly residents — against the latest influenza strains which are expected to be particularly nasty this winter.

“We have plenty of stock of the fourstrain quadrivalent (flu shot) and would highly recommend residents make a booking as soon as possible,” he said.

Addressing concerns from residents who have experienced side effects from the flu shot such as a sore arm or fatigue, Mr Hession said it’s better than having the serious influenza virus.

“Each person is different, but vaccination is generally well tolerated, and the flu shot is recommended for all ages,” he said.

“A minor inconvenience now is better than a potential major illness later.”

Last year’s influenza wave peaked earlier than usual in June and resulted in the deaths of at least 308 Australians.

There were more than 6,600 cases of flu detected in Australia in March — the highest number for March since 2019.

In other vaccine-related news, Mr Hession said the latest COVID-19 vaccine, the bivalent BA.4/5 by Moderna or Pfizer, is available for uptake.

“The latest COVID-19 vaccine booster, BA.4/5, is available to anyone who last received a COVID shot six months ago, or had the virus more than six months ago,” he said.

“The more time that has passed since you had COVID-19, the more your immunity has declined, and this booster (BA.4/5) can protect you.

“You can also get both the four-strain flu shot and the COVID-19 booster (BA.4/5) at the same time, one in each arm.”

At the time of print, there were a total of 238 cases of COVID-19 in the seven days to Friday, March 31, across the Northern Rivers.

Across NSW, there were 9,684 COVID-19 cases in the same seven-day period, and a total of 25 deaths per week.

“COVID-19 has moved from a pandemic to an endemic virus, which means it’s here to stay and residents need to stay protected,” Mr Hession said.

Letter of the Week

Congratulations Isabelle Cecere

You have won a double pass* to the film of your choice

Merger idea shameful

In 2020, the then NSW state government blindsided the Murwillumbah community by announcing the merger of four local public schools.

The announcement was made in Murwillumbah by the then Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and fully supported by Member for Tweed Geoff Provest.

No explanation was offered for the merger except to say that it would be good for public education in Murwillumbah. Previous promised school upgrades were ignored.

As time proceeded, Sarah Mitchell and the NSW Department of Education asked the community what they wanted in the new school.

They saw this as consulting the community. The project was downgraded along the way. The community has now seen high school students’ education severely disrupted, in particular Murwillumbah High students by being shifted to the Wollumbin High School site.

Parents had warned that there would be problems with merging these two high schools. They have been proved correct. A chat with parents or students verifies this to be so.

Consequently, we do not know how much taxpayer money has been wasted on this debacle.

The result has been that many parents have pulled their children out of the public system and sent them to independent and private schools. There are many teachers who have left taking leave, taking jobs in the non-public sector or retiring early. Students have had their education unnecessarily impacted. This is a shameful indictment of the previous state government.

Gerry Matthews, Kielvale The Voice discussion

The letters to these pages in support of the “Yes” case for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament seem to ignore the fact that if it does get up — it won’t do a single thing to improve the lives of the average Australian citizen of

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Aboriginal descent.

As Warren Mundine, a former Federal President of the ALP and eminent Australian Aboriginal himself, has put it: “The loudest demands for the Voice come from a minority of Indigenous elites from organisations that already advise governments and have been amply funded to deliver improvements for years with little to show for it”.

Those who disagree with this statement purely because they want to have a warm fuzzy feeling for how they’ve ‘done something’, seriously risks repeating the mistakes of the past — where the money spent is directed to the loud minority in capital cities at the direct expense of those who need the most help.

Matt Eggleston, West Perth Urgent health funding needed

We have a massive financial shortage of health funds, new hospitals are urgently needed, there are long waits for ambulance patients to get treatment causing great agony and deaths, there are many thousands waiting for elective surgery to ease debilitating sufferance and pain and many are children.

And the government is going to waste $235 million to push an unnecessary Voice referendum for the mythical benefit of 3.2 per cent of the population — whatever your thinking is on the issue, it must be seriously opposed due to the extreme serious need for priority health funding. It may be one of your family that dies through a lack of funding.

This is a clear message to the people of government priorities, your family’s health is of a very low priority to political ideology grandstanding — there are eleven Indigenous members in parliament. They are a Voice for the 3.2 per cent of Indigenous people, they also have about 2,700 aboriginal organisations and 30 Land Councils — all of which receive massive government funding, no more are required. The Na- tional Indigenous Agency has received $4 billion with apparently no benefit to anyone outside their elite structure — $4 billion thrown into oblivion — what about our hospitals and people’s health in urgent need of funding.

The health of the 86.8 per cent of the people are of far greater importance and you need to vote accordingly to force a shift in government priorities, if you let them get away with this diversion of urgently needed health funds then you will have set the future standard for further health neglect.

To add further contempt of your health and hospital needs that are decades behind in funding, government are bringing in thousands more migrants to flood the health system, housing availability, power, water, sewerage and community infrastructure that is in overload — and need urgent funding now being diverted to unnecessary grandiose political ideology of The Voice referendum — while others suffer in pain, flood victims have lost everything they own and sadly many have lost hope, people live in tents and on the street because there are not enough houses that wealthy migrants have dominated purchases of, and due to total ignorance of how the earth’s climate works, your power bills are becoming unaffordable and there will be blackouts.

Good luck everybody if you vote for The Voice, there are endless future years to regret at your leisure.

Gil May, Forestdale Police must be seen

In response to John Bennett’s letter ‘Speed limits’ (TVW, March 30), I agree.

Roads laws need to be policed. I think what I noticed most when I moved up here 14 years ago was the lack of police patrolling in cars, or anywhere in the streets for that matter. Police need to be seen and they need to be visible at least, and the police up here are not visible enough.

Isabella Cecere, Tweed Heads West

Hospital needs accommodation options

With the new Tweed Valley Hospital due to take its first patients in November this year, how will necessary nurses and young doctors be attracted to staff the new facility when there is simply no rental accommodation available?

After a minimum of six years at university, before a doctor graduates, no young doctor could afford to buy or build. Similar circumstances apply to our nurses.

Common sense should prevail and the land adjacent to the new hospital and Tweed Valley Way should be rezoned right now to meet the urgent need of accommodation.

Nurses/doctors accommodation with appropriate recreational facilities is an absolute necessity if the hospital is to operate to its fullest extent.

The land in question was zoned as State Significant Farming land back in the 1980s/90s.

Times change as do the needs of the people.

If one looks at the methods for identifying important agricultural lands in NSW, the piece of land in question would certainly not now meet the required criteria of being of state significance.

The previous owners of the hospital site moved all his agricultural activities to Bundaberg years ago as he considered the land there more suited to agriculture, giving a much better return with the need for less use of additives to the soil.

The Labor Party now has its chance to show it is a party ‘for the people’ by taking immediate steps to appropriately rezone the adjoining land to allow private enterprise to build nurse/ doctor accommodation immediately.

Barbara Nowland, Hastings Point Garden enthusiasts take note

Twin Towns and District Garden Club meets every second Monday of the month. December is awards and presentations.

Our next meeting is Monday, April 10. The meeting venue is Tweed Heads Civic Centre Auditorium. Our guest speaker this month is Darryl Ruprecht with his book on staghorns called “King of the Ferns”.

We offer raffles, a lucky door prize, president’s award, trading tables, cuttings table, members prize draw, benching of plants and flowers, floral art — both novice and senior, Begonia Society, social morning teas, bus trips and, best of all, friendship. Come along, bring a mug to share a coffee or tea with like-minded gardeners. See you there, don’t forget to bring a mug. Please phone: 0468 872 199 (leave a message).

Gwen Barnes, Banora Point Day VIEW Club meeting

The Twin Towns Day VIEW Club meets for a luncheon once per month on the first Thursday of each month at the South Tweed Sports Club and coming up is the next meeting/luncheon on April 6, from 10.30am for 11am start.

There is a short meeting to catch members up to date on our local news and news from our sponsors the Smith Family for whom we are very proud as we support their ideology through our club helping to pay for the education of seven children with the ‘Learning for Life’ programme. As well as our normal monthly get together, there is always another monthly outing somewhere on the Tweed for more fun and comradeship. We would love more ladies to join our VIEW Club (Voice, Interests, Education for Women).

For more information phone president Kathie on: 0407 709 629.

Freda Shaw (OAM), Tweed Heads