As the country’s COVID-19 vaccine program continues to be rolled out following the February launch, thousands of frontline workers have already received the jab, or are in the queue for it.
Many are waiting with keen anticipation, including Melbourne-based radiology technician Julie, who is expected to be vaccinated during the 1B phase.
“It is what I have to do as a medical professional. I am all for it,” she told SBS Chinese.
As a frontline worker, Julie requested that her surname, and her place of employment, be withheld.
In her job, she deals with confirmed and suspected coronavirus cases every day and believes it’s her responsibility to ensure the safety of whoever she interacts with.
This extends to her family members, whom she’ll be able to interact with once the vaccine is more widely administered.
Healthcare worker Julie. Source: Julie Provided
She's especially keen to be able to sit with her grandfather, who is in Australia on a visitor visa. The rollout also raises hopes that her grandfather will soon be able to return to Korea.
“I have to see my grandpa, my family. And if I say I don’t get vaccinated and get COVID, I will feel very guilty.”
The federal government has confirmed that taking the vaccine is not mandatory, but there are some companies that are calling on customers to be vaccinated, including Qantas.
Julie agrees there should be some flexibility in the decision to get the jab, including people with pre-existing medical conditions who opt against vaccination.
However, she believes “there should be certain areas” where those who opt-out of the vaccine program should not be employed in.
If you work in a big hospital and you don't want to get vaccinated for whatever reason, you can be transferred to a smaller clinic or maybe just work from home.
“It is not just for you. It is for the people that you are interacting with.”
Working on the frontline
Julie has been working at a clinic and a private hospital during the entirety of the pandemic and affirms she experienced burn out, especially during the early months.
The hospital she works in is one of the few that can accommodate a large number of COVID patients. Especially difficult was when an outbreak of cases occurred in a number of aged care facilities across Melbourne.
“We're going back to maybe March or April last year, it was very hard. Our hospital had gotten more confirmed COVID cases than other places.”
As soon as the first COVID case appeared at the hospital, Julie was so afraid to bring the virus back to her family that she and her older sister - a healthcare worker at another hospital - moved out to a rented house.
“We didn't really get a lot of notification. It just kind of happened on Sunday. And then on Monday, we came to work and they were like, yeah, we're getting confirmed cases.”
Luckily, the sisters had each other for support.
“You come home, and you just go straight into the shower…we sort of tried not to stay together either, we would come home at the different times to make sure that the interaction was as low as possible.”
The separation from her grandfather was especially difficult, as he is not a tech-savvy person and hasn’t been able to communicate using online services.
She also felt "there was nowhere to go" after work.
However, she says those who were fighting on the frontline managed to form their own bond.
“I think the biggest positive that I had at that time was the people that I work with…when I went to work, it just felt like everything was still normal because I could still see people.”
She recalls an incident during the early months of the pandemic when one of her colleagues became a confirmed COVID case.
“So then, I think about 10 people had to quarantine and 10 is a lot. If there are 10 people that don't come to work, then I have to work 10 times as hard.
There was a lot of stress on us. And physically, it was draining and mentally hard.
The silver lining of the increased workload was Julie isn't plagued by the usual day-to-day financial concerns.
“I had to work double as hard, and I didn't really have much to spend out anyway.
“I think living out paying rent, did affect my financials a little bit. But I can't say I had difficulty like others.”
Wearing a mask
As part of her hospital’s COVID-safe protocols, Julie asks her patients a number of questions, such as whether they have any cold or flu symptoms and whether they have been tested for the virus previously.
Also, there are patients reluctant to wear masks in the hospital.
“I did have a patient who came in and thought she didn't have to wear a mask anymore because restrictions were eased.
“And it also comes down to how properly you wear the mask. Also, a lot of patients don’t want to wear a mask so kind of cheat in a way and put the mask down, so they can still breathe in it."
She believes this thinking defeats the purpose of wearing a mask. So, she has to constantly remind patients to wear masks in the fashion for which they were designed.
She says the patients would cooperate at first, but then the mask would come down again.
“They start to get a bit aggravated and angry. I sort of try to step back. But we do always try to protect ourselves and them as well, by reminding them multiple times if we have to.”
Julie also found it difficult to work all day wearing a mask, as the only time she can take it off is during a half-hour lunch break.
“And you got to speak up to these patients because most of them are elderly than they used to lip reading. And if they don't see the lips, you just have to speak louder.”
Settling down
Julie says it’s a “big relief” that Australia has managed to control the pandemic. With time, the approach of frontline workers has become routine.
“Back [when it started], we see a suspected COVID case and would be like, we got to set up the room again, we got to wear PPE again, and like all that.
“But now it's routine. I see them, I dress and it's a very systematic way.”
