The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation will host a Zoom webinar this week encouraging those in the West to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Three expert panellists have been confirmed to speak, in Dr Mukesh Haikerwal AC, Patricia Anthony and Ahmed Hassan.
Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s COVID-19 Response Commander, will also give an official introduction.
The group will provide key insights on the current status of COVID-19 in the West and across the state, while offering the opportunity to answer any questions relating to the vaccine roll-out.
VU Whitten Oval played host to Premier Dan Andrews for the State Government’s daily COVID-19 press conference on Sunday, with Western Bulldogs AFLW head coach Nathan Burke among the guest speakers.
The Play On: Victoria, Let’s Get Vaccinated webinar will be held on Wednesday 1 September at 5.30pm.
To register your attendance, please click here.
Dr Mukesh Haikerwal AC
Dr Haikerwal has been at the forefront of COVID-19 public health strategies since last year. His Altona North practice became the state's first GP-led, federally-funded respiratory clinic, which in June administered the first GP-led Pfizer shots. He has also been heavily involved in setting up Melbourne's first car-park testing site, and using video consultations.
Dr Haikerwal is State and National President of the AMA and Chair of the Council of the World Medical Association. He is a Professor in the School of Medicine at Flinders University, works with Brain Injury Australia and chairs the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. He is also a long-standing supporter of the SOTW program.
Patricia Anthony
Ms Anthony is a Div 1 Nurse, employed by IPC Health, currently working as the Community Engagement and Bicultural Workforce Lead for the COVID-19 Rapid Response Collaborative, which was commissioned by the Department of Health. She provides support to multicultural communities in the West by providing training to bicultural workers to share COVID-Safe and COVID-19 vaccination messaging with their communities.
Her teams also participate in COVID-19 vaccination forums in other languages and English, and assisted Western Health’s on-site vaccination clinic at Al-Taqwa College, Truganina, alongside the COVID-19 Rapid Response testing team. Her teams work at both testing and exposure sites, encouraging people to get tested and promoting the COVID-19 vaccination. Besides this, she is passionate about working with people with chronic disease and complex needs.
Ahmed Hassan
Mr Hassan is a passionate and respected advocate for Melbourne’s multicultural community, who works hard to empower and motivate young people to break the cycle of disadvantage.
Born in the northern suburbs with a Somalian and Eritrean background, Mr Hassan became the co-founder and Executive Director at Youth Activating Youth at the age of 18.
His efforts have been recognised by appointments to the Multicultural Youth Network, African Australian Community Taskforce, and Deputy Chair of the Victorian African Action Plan Implementation Committee. Mr Hassan is also on the WBCF Board, and recently recovered from COVID-19.
