Pilbara residents praised for ‘mostly positive’ reaction to vaccine checks

As WA comes to terms with the new proof of vaccination mandate which kicked in on January 31, Pilbara businesses have taken the necessary steps to show their compliance. The new law requires everyone aged 16 years and over to show vaccination certificates when visiting hospital and aged care facilities, hospitality venues including restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs and taverns, bottle shops, cinemas, and gyms and fitness centres. Stardeck Group operations manager Toby Lomas said they have invested a lot of time and resources to ensure they were being compliant. “At Grand Central Tavern, we’ve fenced off the entire alfresco area to only allow one point of entry so that we can check vaccine certificates through one queue rather than having people coming in at all angles and it becoming extremely difficult to manage, which is an issue that I can see happening at quite a few other venues,” he said. “We’ve introduced stamping so any customer that comes in, as soon as they’ve shown us their proof of vaccine, we stamp the customer which they then show back at the bar every time they come up so we can make sure that everybody in the venue has been checked.” Mr Lomas said the venue was implementing “spot checks” with a member of staff walking around to make sure everyone is stamped. Fiorita mixologist Jamie Milliken said the vast majority of customers had been understanding of the changes. He said most of the people he had to turn away did not have their ID to back up their certificate or were not ready for the restrictions to be rolled out. “In the first few days I’ve only had one person get grumpy, which is a great average to be honest,” he said. The Pilbara remains the least vaccinated region in Australia with just 57 per cent of West Pilbara residents aged 15 years and older double dosed as of January 31, while 59.4 per cent were fully vaccinated in the East Pilbara. Unvaccinated customers of popular Karratha cafe Lo’s have the option to takeaway and sit outside. Owner Ginger Lo said her customers were happy with the arrangements. “For the past few days, we are pretty lucky that we haven’t had any people complain or get angry, so — so far, so good,” she said. Several Port and South Hedland venues including the Last Chance Tavern and the South Hedland bowling club have their entrances manned with staff checking proof of vaccination certificates and asking patrons to check in upon arrival. The South Hedland Bowling Club also requires patrons to wear a wristband to show their proof of vaccination has been checked. Popular Port Hedland coffee shop C&Hai’s cafe announced on Facebook on February 3 they would be takeaway only so patrons did not have to show proof of vaccination. This announcement was met with numerous comments of support. Town of Port Hedland Mayor Peter Carter encouraged local residents to help Hedland stay COVID-safe by following the public health advice. At present, proof of vaccination is required at several Town venues including the Matt Dann Theatre and Cinema, Wanangkura Stadium and Gratwick Fitness Centre with a TOPH statement on January 31 noting mandates were expected to impact more Town venues and operations in the future.