Mareeba’s Naomi Courtney loves getting out and about.

So it’s no surprise that she’s made a career of engaging with mob as an ITC Engagement Officer with Mulungu Aboriginal Health Service.

Her work in the communities around Mareeba involves yarning with people and facilitating their journey back into health services.

So it’s no surprise that now she’s vaccinated against COVID-19, there’s a sense of safety, relief and freedom attached.

“Yeah I think I feel safer,” Naomi said.

“Not only that, I think it gives us more freedom to move around.

“For me, I like to be out and about; I don’t like to be stuck inside.

“I like to be out and doing things so a lot of my time is spent outdoors.

“I think it’s the freedom of it and to be able to travel and do things that I like to do.

“It’s given me a lot of freedom.”

Because her job brings her into contact with a lot of people, she’s got a good idea of the local sentiment around getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

“From the beginning when Mulungu first got the COVID vaccines, a lot of people that I know of, and have spoken to, don’t want the vaccine at the moment,” she said.

“Because I think at that time a lot of negativity was going around with the media.

“So it turned off a lot of people in the community; especially the younger age group.

“The older ones, some were willing, but I find people in the age category of the 30s, 50s, and younger, are refusing at the moment.

“We don’t have a big number of vaccinated indigenous people in our community at the moment.”

Naomi made the choice to get vaccinated against COVID 19 to protect herself and her family even though she had her own reservations about the jab.

“Well, in the beginning I was listening to the media, and I didn’t want to get my vaccine done.”

“But then I thought about it long and hard if I’d actually get it done.

“I decided to because of my family; I have my younger sister live with me and she didn’t want to get hers done.

“And then when I finally decided to get the vaccine, I spoke to her about it and said, ‘you need to get yours done as well.’

“So then she agreed and we both got our vaccine.

“I think we were more worried about the side effects of it all. “

The good news is that neither Naomi nor her sister reported any side effects, just a sense of freedom.

If you would like more information, or to book an appointment contact Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Primary Health Care Service.