Highlights
- Melbourne’s Wyndham council, Western Health and African community set up vaccination clinic for local residents
- Social misinformation, language and technological barriers lead causes of vaccine hesitancy in African community
- African community calls for more culturally-appropriate vaccination sites
On a Thursday afternoon, members of the African community and others arrive at a soccer pavilion in Truganina in Melbourne’s west.
On this rainy day, they are not here to watch their kids play soccer or attend a barbeque party.
This is part of an effort to boost the vaccination rate amongst Melbourne’s migrant communities as Australia appears to reach the brink of reopening to the world and inch closer to the magic numbers of 70 and 80 per cent full vaccination, said to provide a conducive setting for that to happen.
The move follows widespread concerns over Australia’s sluggish vaccine rollout, especially in its myriad multicultural communities. In the past many weeks, the local government areas (LGAs) of Wyndham and Hume in Melbourne, with large migrant communities, have made headlines for these reasons.
Wyndham is one the hardest-hit LGAs in not only Melbourne but entire the state of Victoria. It is also home to one of the largest cohorts of African migrants in the country.
To counter this challenge of disease transmission and public perception, the Wyndham City Council has set up a pop-up vaccination clinic in collaboration with the local migrant community. The Wyndham council and Western Health are eagerly targeting the local African community in the area, which includes a large number of international students.
Waiting room at a vaccine pop up at a soccer pavilion in Truganina. Source: Supplied
Huddle, a community support group that works with young people and their families from African backgrounds in the areas of education and employment, has set up a vaccination hub in partnership with Wyndham council.
Nasteha Farah, the project manager from Huddle, says an environment to provide people the information and advice they need is vitally important to boost the vaccination rate.
This is a space our community is familiar with and feels comfortable to attend and be in. We decided to bring the vaccines here
Nasteha Farah, project manager at Huddle, community group helping African community. Source: SBS Somali
Ms Farah says one barrier is technology because many people in the African community may not be tech-savvy.
“I think initially it was all about how to access the vaccination booking website, which was crashing a lot because of the online traffic. We also have a lot of people who may not have the capacity to go online and book their appointment," she tells SBS Somali.
We decided to be able to speak to our community and book them in for vaccination ourselves and eliminate the barriers
Vaccination sites like this are targeted at diverse communities in a space they feel comfortable. They involve workers who speak their language and can give information in an easy fashion to help counter the misinformation doing the rounds in the community.
Ms Farah says more such sites are on the cards as the community seems to embrace the idea.
“We’ve had a great reaction from the community. We have 150 people at least, who want to get vaccinated today through the hub," she adds.
Everyone was calling their friends and family asking them to take advantage of the opportunity that we have now. As you can see, the lines are filling up
The state government says it will spend more money to increase health messaging designed by multicultural communities to promote vaccination.
Ms Farah says other members of the community may need extra reassurance about the safety of the vaccines. To counter their hesitance, they are encouraged to ask questions at the clinic.
Vaccination pop up clinic at a soccer pavilion in Truganina, Melbourne West Source: SBS Somali
After attending a lot of sessions, forums and workshops with healthcare and religious leaders, I think a lot of people are more comfortable now with the vaccine and know what its benefits are
“Many people now have friends and family who have already been vaccinated, so they feel a lot more comfortable to do their part as well and get vaccinated,” she adds. 
Cr Adele Hegedich, Wyndham City Council Mayor says local grassroots initiative that has been well embraced by a local community. Source: Cr Adele Hegedich/Facebook
Adele Hegedich, Mayor of Wyndham City Council, says this initiative represents what can be achieved when the government partners with the community.
"Today, we are seeing 150 members from our African community and international students being vaccinated from one of our sporting pavilions," she tells SBS Somali.
This is a local grassroots initiative that has been well embraced by the local community
The mayor says a culturally-appropriate setting is breaking down some of the barriers to vaccination for the local community.
“We know a one-size-fits-all approach to vaccinations will not work, which is why we’ve partnered with Western Health, Huddle and our community to ensure we have local access to the vaccine regardless of age, cultural background, language, religion, socio-economic status or any other factor,” she adds. 
A nurse administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a member of the African community. Source: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Salwa Ali is one of the many attendees of this pop-up clinic.
She tells SBS Somali that she's here to get her second dose of the vaccine and says this clinic made it easy.
There is no long queue. You just come in, present yourself, get vaccinated immediately and off you go except for the 15 minutes that you need to wait for after the jab
Organisers say the pop-up clinic had expected to vaccinate 150 people on the day, all from the African community of Wyndham.
Mahad Warsame from Huddle has been enthusiastically calling people to come and get vaccinated.
“The aim is to get the people of Wyndham vaccinated. Today the plan is to vaccinate 150 people, god willing. We are offering both – Pfizer and AstraZeneca – vaccines and we thank the Wyndham council and Western Health for their support,” he tells SBS Somali.
Many of those arriving at this clinic are women, with some bringing their children to get vaccinated.
Ms Farah says mothers always lead communities in many aspects.
“I think our mothers are a lot more involved and the backbone of our community. When they want to do something, we all follow. I think that’s why a lot of the people here today are women.
“I’m not sure what happened to the men then, but this happens all the time. I think women attend things more than men do in a community,” she says.
Layla Ahmed is a mother who arrived at this clinic. She is fully-vaccinated but has brought her two sons to get vaccinated.
I am glad the vaccine has come to our area. Previously, I booked it online but when I was told it is now available nearby, I thought it is a good thing
Victoria’s Department of Health says outreach programmes like this aim to remove any barriers that might prevent someone from accessing the vaccine.
“Outreach clinics are supported by community health providers, which use their local community expertise to deliver tailored and culturally-relevant information on vaccinations,” a statement from Victoria’s Department of Health says.
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Produced in collaboration with SBS Tigrinya, SBS Dinka, SBS Swahili and SBS Amharic.
