All aged care workers in Western Australia must have received a COVID-19 vaccine by September 17, or they’ll be barred from entering aged care homes – under a new direction from the Chief Health Officer.

Premier Mark McGowan said the changes were flagged with workers some months ago.

The Premier told Perth LIVE’s Oliver Peterson he’s lodged a request with the Federal Government, to do more in-reach vaccine programs.

“That’s part of a national agreement, we’ve agreed that all states and territories should put that in place by mid-September,” he said.

“If you work in aged care, you’re working with elderly people who are very, very vulnerable, as you can see now in Sydney, and you saw it in Melbourne, they can just die.

“So this is designed to protect both the workforce, and also the people who live in aged care.”

And the strategy could be expanded, beyond the aged care sector.

“We’re looking at other workforces as well, whether you work in areas were they face onto ports, where you deal with crew members of ships who might be infected, or people who work in healthcare,” he said.

Meantime, the Premier also said our state would consider holding the AFL finals – if it can be done safely.

“Our number one priority is keeping people safe and not introducing the virus into Western Australia,” he said.

“If we can work out a COVID-safe way of holding finals, holding the Grand Final, we’ll do that, but it’s not our number one priority.”

Press PLAY to hear Premier Mark McGowan’s full interview