Stephanie Saunders is a proud Yidinji woman who hails from the Gordonvale Area and has been an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse at Wuchopperen Health Service for about a year, with the bulk of her career as an employee with Queensland Health. 

She made the choice to get vaccinated because she wanted to protect herself, her family and her community. 

But she’s worried that mob are being too complacent about getting the jab.  

“Our mob from here – from Cairns – they’re slowly coming in,” Ms Saunders said. 

“I think they want to know a little bit more about the injection and why they need to have it.  

“I always told them that you need to have it because the Aboriginal community tend to get a lot sicker than non-Indigenous. 

She said having a yarn to concerned clients was the best method of allaying their fears. In this she praised the efforts of the Indigenous health workers at Wuchopperen. 

“Having the health workers with you seems to help as well, they seem to have a rapport with the clients as well as they know them personally.  

“It’s really health worker led.” 

Ms Saunders said to anyone who still has doubts about the vaccine, they should come into their local health service to have a chat because there’s no time to waste. 

“If they really want to know about the vaccine, then they need to come in and have a yarn with us.  

“I don’t know how to stress it more, because I feel they’re still hesitant.  

“They’re coming slowly but it’s a slow move forward. I really want them to come in ASAP. 

“I always say to our mob, ‘when the borders are open, you don’t know what’s going to come through there, whether somebody has got the COVID virus.’  

“And this is where you need to have (the jab). Cause if you take it back to the community, it’s going to be a lot worse.” 

If you would like more information, or to book an appointment, contact Wuchopperen Health Service.