Working seven days a week across three clinics in southwest Sydney, Dr Dong Hua is in the eye of NSW’s COVID-19 storm.
A father of two young boys, the Fairfield doctor has sacrificed a great deal of family time to assist NSW’s fight against COVID-19.
Dr Hua said since the changed last month, he’s seen massive demand from young people booking COVID-19 jabs.
“Two or three months ago, we were barely getting any people under 60 because of the risk of blood clots [with AstraZeneca],” Dr Hua said.
“A lot of the hesitancy has eased and we’re seeing people coming forward to get vaccinated."
Dr Hua has been working seven days a week over the past few months due to NSW's escalating COVID-19 crisis. Source: Supplied
Two weeks ago, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommended those aged 18 and above in Greater Sydney to “strongly consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine, including… AstraZeneca.”
Dr Hua told The Feed that wait times for AstraZeneca vaccinations are now up to four weeks at his clinics.
“The situation has changed. A lot of people are concerned about COVID and there are about 10 to 12 people under 40 currently in hospital in intensive care,” he said.
The GP warned that anyone waiting to become eligible for a Pfizer vaccine might be waiting longer than they thought.
“The current waiting time at my clinic for Pfizer is usually two to three months, and that’s also in the NSW vaccination hubs as well,” he said.
“So, by the time they become eligible, it might be six months before they get any protection.”
Getting vaccinated in Southwest Sydney
A regional breakdown of vaccination rates by the Federal Government this week revealed Southwest Sydney has the lowest vaccination rates in Sydney, with 14.6 per cent of people over 15 fully vaccinated. Nearby in Parramatta, 17.7 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated. In Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, the figure is 23.9 per cent.
Dr Hua said mixed messaging and complacency at the start of the pandemic could be two of the reasons for the low vaccination figures.
He believes there were also cultural factors at play, with a high number of people in the community having English as their second language.
“A lot of people weren't aware what vaccine they should get, or whether AstraZeneca’s safe for them,” he said.
“[Before GPs had indemnity], a lot of my colleagues and the GPs themselves were hesitant in giving young people the [AstraZeneca] vaccine,” he added.
A spokesperson told The Feed on Wednesday that NSW Health is working closely with multicultural groups “to ensure culturally and linguistically diverse community members understand the public health advice.”
The spokesperson said the communication campaign has included translated resources, engaging with religious and community leaders and having bilingual staff at COVID-19 vaccination and testing hubs.
But it wasn’t just language barriers and confusion about health advice threatening the vaccine rollout. Dr Hua said he’s also had to dispel misinformation at his clinic.
“There’s a lot of conspiracy theories, [such as] the vaccines cause fertility issues,” Dr Hua said.
“These different theories that people present with, most of the information is researched on the internet or some anti-vax groups… There's a lot of misconceptions out there."
Dr Hua alongisde healthcare practitioners outside the Fairfield Respiratory Clinic in southwest Sydney. Source: Supplied
‘A hectic time for GPs’
It’s been a hectic few months for Dr Hua, who is running both the Campbelltown and Fairfield Respiratory Clinics, as well as offering jabs at his own practice, Kenyon St Medical Centre.
Dr Hua said NSW’s updated testing regulations initially put a significant strain on clinics... The regulations required those living in the Fairfield and Canterbury-Bankstown local government areas who travel for essential work to get a COVID-19 test every three days
Clinics were overwhelmed, according to Dr Hua, as there weren’t enough testing sites, causing people to wait up to three to four hours to get tested.
“It's been pretty hectic actually, we had queues of people waiting,” Dr Hua said.
“They were getting really irate. We’re appointment based and a lot of the locals weren’t understanding of that and were becoming pretty aggressive.”
“Testing numbers have dropped a little bit but still we're still seeing about 200 patients a day in terms of COVID [testing].”
Dr Hua said he was saddened by the news that an unvaccinated man in his 20s, who lived in southwest Sydney, died after contracting COVID-19.
“COVID is a serious disease and… this Delta strain, people need to be cautious and wary of.”
“We need to encourage all our young ones to get vaccinated because that's the best chance to overcome this pandemic -- to increase our vaccination rates and to maintain testing rates as well.”
SBS is providing live translations of daily NSW COVID press conferences in Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Assyrian. You can access those live translations at , , and Facebook pages, as well as SBS Radio.
