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The community vaccination clinic in Sale will relocate from the Gippsland Regional Sports Complex to the Catholic College Sale's former Sion campus from Wednesday.Vaccinations will take place in the Marcellin Room from Wednesday, December 7.The centre will be open Wednesdays from noon to 7pm, except for a short break from December 23 for two weeks.Public parking will be available in the former staff carpark off Raglan St, all three COVID vaccines will be available by appointment or walk-in.At the weekend, premier Daniel Andrews announced five to 11-year-olds would now be able to be vaccinated, after the The Therapeutic Goods Administration provisionally approved the Comirnaty Paediatric (Pfizer) COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11-year-olds.It is expected that children will be able to access the Pfizer for children COVID-19 vaccine from January 10, with bookings will be available through https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/booking/?lang=enIn a statement, the TGA said as for other age groups, the use of this vaccine in children aged five to 11 should be given in two doses at least three weeks apart.However, a lower dose would be given to children aged five to 11, compared to that used for those aged 12 years and older, with an orange-capped vial to clearly differentiate it.In making its decision, the TGA said it had carefully considered data from clinical trials conducted in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain, which included participants aged five to 11."The study demonstrated effectiveness by showing that the immune response to the vaccine in children was similar to that seen in older age groups," it said."Clinical trials also showed that the safety profile in children is similar to that seen in adults with the observed side effects being mild."The most frequent adverse events seen in clinical trials in children aged 5-11 years were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, injection site redness and swelling, muscle pain and chills."Mr Andrews said while he awaited advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation , the TGA’s provisional approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 was "very welcome news for Victoria"."This is an effective vaccine that has been safely administered to millions of young children around the world," he said."Vaccinations are already a part of life for families with young children - and now we’ll have another one to help keep them as safe as possible at school and home.”While Wellington Shire has had more than 95 per cent of its population now double vaccinated against COVID for a couple of weeks, the remainder of the state is catching up, with 94.0 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 91.5 per cent having had two doses, as of Saturday.There are currently 297 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria, with 47 of those in intensive care units.As of Monday, Latrobe Regional Hospital, the designated hospital caring for COVID-19 patients from across Gippsland, reported there were 249 known cases of COVID in Gippsland.By municipality, there were 33 cases in Wellington, 36 in Latrobe City, 55 in East Gippsland, 14 in South Gippsland, 94 in Baw Baw and 17 in Bass Coast.Three people were in hospital, and none were in intensive care.The drive-through testing site at the former Sion campus of Catholic College continues to operate 9am to 11 am weekdays.People getting tested should pre-fill their details using the testing registration form testtracker.covid19.dhhs.vic.gov.au/citizen-prefillPeople can also get tested atSale Respiratory Clinic, 9am to 5pm weekdays. Appointments are required, and can be made by phoning 5143 7900.The Yarram and District Health Service drive-through testing site is also continuing, open 10.30am to 11.30am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.No appointments are required, but people should pre-fill their details using the Testing Registration form testtracker.covid19.dhhs.vic.gov.au/ci

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