NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has reached out to the leaders of culturally and linguistically diverse communities across the state to help spread accurate information on COVID-19 vaccination.
NSW Health and the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) have been closely working and engaging with multicultural groups throughout the pandemic, providing COVID-19 information in 57 languages.
Dr Chant said community leaders had been invaluable in ensuring information reached everyone, regardless of the language they spoke.
"Over the past year, I'm so grateful that they have helped us by sharing information on subjects like the symptoms of COVID‑19, how to get tested and how to keep COVID safe," she said.
"Now we are asking them to help us again to make sure everyone gets accurate information they can trust on vaccines and the vaccination process.
"Not all the information circulating out there is correct, so it's important that people know where to go for the right advice.
"I'm very proud of the work that NSW Health and the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service have done to ensure that COVID-19 information is accessible to everyone in the community.
"I also want to thank the continuous support of the multicultural health services across the local health districts and state-wide agencies including Multicultural NSW and Service NSW in reaching our communities."
State Health Emergency Operations Centre Controller Susan Pearce, who is managing the state-wide COVID-19 vaccine rollout, said vaccination would be free for everyone in Australia, including those without Medicare cards.
"We urge everyone who can to be vaccinated when it becomes available to them," Ms Pearce said.
"Vaccination is one of the key steps to helping us protect our loved ones and being able to resume a more normal life."
Information on vaccination is available in various languages at https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-information-in-your-language
