Jewish Museum, St Kilda Shule in jab drive
The Jewish Museum has joined a Port Phillip Council campaign to get the community vaccinated so that businesses can reopen and stay open.
READY to get back on Luna Park’s scenic railway or go to a performance at the Palais Theatre?
Luna Park CEO Mary Stuart and Palais Theatre venue manager Lloyd Jones are keen to welcome you back in the coming weeks. Melbourne’s Mr Moon hasn’t seen visitors for more than 250 days, with hundreds of events cancelled and millions of rides missed.
Its neighbour has had 192 cancelled performances and 57,600 staff hours lost.
Fellow business owner Melinda Martin from Linden New Art has also been closed for more than 250 days, with exhibition programs being rescheduled more than 20 times and 520 artists impacted, while publican Tom Streater from the Prince Alfred Hotel in Port Melbourne said he has lost more than $1.4 million in revenue since COVID-19 started.
In an effort to drive up vaccination rates, business, arts and community identities living in the City of Port Phillip have banded together to encourage residents to roll up their sleeves and get the jab to help the city reopen and stay open.
The Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA) has joined businesses and business owners including Victorian Pride Centre Chair Hang Vo, Stokehouse restaurateur Frank van Haandel, St Kilda Memo Music Hall, the Astor and South Melbourne Market traders, who are calling for locals to get vaccinated to ensure they can get back up and running after a devastating 18 months.
Noè Harsel from the JMA said the team at the Gandel Centre of Judaica “are looking forward to welcoming our community back into our spaces – and seeing the joy and curiosity that our collections and immersive experiences can inspire”.
She added, “We can’t wait to share our flagship Mirka exhibition, and encourage all who can to get vaccinated so we can safely reopen and stay open.”
Noting that some suburbs in the vicinity are experiencing lower first-dose rates, including Elwood and parts of St Kilda, Port Phillip Council has rolled out a social media campaign on its Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
Port Melbourne Colts Football Club representatives have also jumped on board to highlight the huge impact of the pandemic on community sports.
Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford said many traders are counting on a successful summer to help recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
“We have always said there is a social, as well as an economic impact, so we are also keen for everyone to resume their daily lives as safely as possible and vaccination plays a tremendously important role in achieving this,” she noted.
While there are many vaccination centres in the area including Star Health’s Port Melbourne Town Hall centre and at local pharmacies, St Kilda Shule has also made getting the jab more accessible.
The synagogue’s Danglow Centre will be transformed into a walk-in vaccination clinic for the Jewish community on Monday, October 25 to speed up vaccinations as Melbourne prepares to come out of lockdown.
The clinic will be run by Star Health from 1-6pm and will offer first and second AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccinations for anyone aged 12 years and over.
CEO Rabbi Ronnie Figdor said the synagogue is proud to be contributing to Victoria’s vaccination drive towards the road to freedom and urged those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so.
“The sooner people are vaccinated, the quicker we can all resume normal life, which includes face-to-face services and activities at shule,” he said.
Rabbi Figdor added that the shule offered to host the walk-in clinic as it wanted all members of the community to feel comfortable getting vaccinated in a familiar setting. Separate women’s and men’s waiting rooms are available if required.
For more information, contact Ronnie Figdor at exec@stkildashule.org; 0435 000 613 or visit the City of Port Phillip COVID-19 webpage at bit.ly/3kzPmAV
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