Drinks & hospitality industry put Deputy Chief Medical Officer to the test about Covid vaccines

He was promised a beer once lockdown is over by Endeavour Group’s MD Steve Donohue, and Professor Michael Kidd AM, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, certainly earned himself a cold one after answering an array of tough questions from the drinks and hospitality industry during a live Q&A session yesterday.

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“The team and the wider industry had many questions - and some were tough - about vaccines and the vaccine rollout, and we are forever grateful to Professor Kidd for taking the time to listen to our queries, answer them, explain them in more detail and bust quite a few myths while doing so,” Mr Donohue said. 

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Many of Endeavour Group’s 28,000 team members joined the livestream session, and the company had extended the invitation to the wider drinks and hospitality industry.

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“The feedback we have received from our team and companies that joined - who together represent thousands of employees around the country - is that it was invaluable to have access to such insight and knowledge about Covid-19 vaccinations from a respected medical authority such as Professor Kidd,” Mr Donohue said. 

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“Endeavour Group’s purpose is ‘creating a more sociable future together’, and this has never felt more relevant to me. We want to open up pubs, clubs and restaurants in a safe way because these places bring communities together and our hospitality teams are eager to get back to work, and the safest way to do so is to roll up our sleeves and get jabbed,” he added.

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Endeavour Group offers full time and part time team members paid leave to get vaccinated, and a range of other support for team members if they are impacted by the pandemic. This includes special support measures for team members and their families if they are self isolating in line with advice from the health authorities. 

“We strongly encourage our team members to get vaccinated, which is why we have tried to make it as easy as possible for team members to do so,” Mr Donohue explained. 

You can view the recording of the session here.

For more information, interviews or images, please contact [email protected] 

About Professor Michael Kidd AM, 

Professor Michael Kidd AM is Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Australian Government Department of Health. He has been a general practitioner for 35 years, working in urban and rural areas across Australia, and is a past president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Professor Kidd is a world-leading authority on primary health care, having worked in senior leadership positions in Australia and around the world, including the World Health Organization and the World Organization of Family Doctors. Professor Kidd is contributing to Australia’s response to COVID-19, with a focus on health system reform to meet the current needs of the Australian community.

About Endeavour Group

Endeavour Group is Australia’s leading retail drinks and hospitality business, with more than 28,000 team members united around the group’s purpose of “creating a more sociable future together”. Its portfolio of trusted brands includes Dan Murphy’s and BWS, as well as the nation’s largest portfolio of hotels, including many Australian icons such as Brisbane’s Breakfast Creek Hotel and Melbourne’s Young & Jackson Hotel. In total, Endeavour Group has almost 2,000 retail stores and hotels across Australia.