State-run vaccine hubs will throw open their doors for walk-up jabs for children. Since the child vaccination rollout began on January 10, vaccinations for this age group have been by booking only. Walk-ups will be limited to select sites because of the added complexity of child immunisation and the need for special immunisers. Initial walk-up locations for children will include Dandenong Plaza, Caroline Springs, Sunshine Hospital and the Campbellfield Ford ComplexMeanwhile, the first 15 school pop-up jab hubs will open in primary schools across the state this weekend ahead of the start of the school year. A further 15 school clinics will open next weekend. School vax clinicsMany will be decorated in a bid to support children and ease the nerves ahead of the vaccine. Children do not have to attend the schools to be eligible for a jab at those sites. Premier Daniel Andrews said the countdown to term one was officially on. “We’ve done everything we can to make school a safe place when kids get back in the classroom,” he said. “But the best thing families can do to protect their children is get them protected by a vaccine as quickly as possible … and if parents haven’t organised to have their kids vaccinated yet, now’s the time. “We’re making it easier than ever to get jabs in kids’ arms in a friendly environment, close to home.”The premier also said he “certainly hopes” that National Cabinet would on Thursday land on an agreement that would mean three vaccine doses is a requirement to be fully vaccinated. Mr Andrews said there was a “very strong argument” that a patron would be required to have three jabs to attend public places like bars and the pub. It comes as Victoria recorded 13,755 new cases and 15 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.There are now 1057 infected people in Victorian hospitals, with 117 in intensive care and 40 on ventilators.Victoria’s pre-Omicron peak for Covid hospitalisations was 851 in October when the state was battling a surge in Delta infections.The figure is dwarfed by the 2722 people in NSW who are in hospital with Covid.More than 93 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated and the state has 119,153 active cases.A total of 6130 PCR tests were taken on Wednesday and 16,979 vaccines were administered at state hubs.More than 30 testing sites were forced to close on Wednesday due to the heat, while some were impacted by the storm. UNIS REVEAL SEMESTER PLANSVictoria University will delay a full return to campus for face-to-face learning until late April amid uncertainty of the impact of the Covid Omicron strain. The Footscray-based university is so far the only Victorian institution to postpone opening, with most intending to welcome students for the start of Semester One in late February or early March. All universities are enforcing mandatory vaccinations for students to attend lectures and tutorials as the sector opens up after two years of pandemic-interrupted learning and most classes being held online.But Victoria University will have a “staggered” reopening and then be fully open after the mid-semester break on April 26. The date is also believed to be in-line with the opening of its 32-storey “vertical campus” in Melbourne’s law precinct in the CBD.“Victoria University is safely open for business and progressively scaling up our on-campus, in-person operation,’’ a statement said. “Central to our response is the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and broader community. We are taking several measures to ensure this, including a staggered approach to our return to campus.’’Some studies will be offered online at most universities to cater for those unable to attend or overseas students who have not yet returned to Australia.At University of Melbourne, most coursework would be on campus including orientation events. “Our approach will look forward to the future rather than back to pre-pandemic arrangements, offering on-campus and face-to-face learning enhanced by the best use of technology,” Provost Professor Nicola Phillips said.Monash University has said face-to-face learning and orientation events would return in mid to late February. Staff will return to on-site work on February 21 to coincide with O-Week.Deakin’s academic year starts in March 7 with its campuses open to vaxxed students.NED-5250-Victoria’s Covid-19 statistics“Having operated through the Delta and now Omicron variants, we know we have to remain as flexible as possible,’’ a spokesman said. RMIT said most learning would return to campus for Semester 1.“Where possible, we will continue to provide our students with alternative options to progress their studies if they’re not able to access campus,’’ a statement said.Examples of exemptions would be international students still unable to travel or students with medical conditions.La Trobe and Swinburne are also preparing for on-campus learning with some online elements.“Some learning activities may be in hybrid mode or online to support students who are unable to attend campus and to mitigate risk,’’ a La Trobe spokeswoman said. “We will continue to provide a mix of online and face-to-face support services for our students such as counselling.’’Thousands of international students are already returning to Victoria’s universities after two years of pandemic-enforced absence and remote learning.The higher education sector has been hit hard by Covid pandemic, with up to 40,000 staff losing work and multimillion-dollar hits to universities’ budgets.
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