Exhibition Building as Vaccination Centre

I Digress

11 Apr

An update on the Royal Exhibition Building

A revisit of its history as a hospital during the Spanish flu of 1919.

Spanish flu

So the First World War had just ended and all of a sudden people started dropping like flies. This imagery might be familiar to you since we have just spent the last year experiencing something very similar, and for many of us, are still in the thick of it.

Back in 1919, the Spanish flu had swept through the world taking millions of people with it, and Melbourne was no exception.

As has happened in almost every part of the world in the last 16 months, pop-up hospitals have not become uncommon. And it was the same over 100 years ago.

In the midst of a pandemic, pop-up hospitals are the only way to cope with the increase demand of people seeking medical attention. And it was the Royal Exhibition Building who stood up and took on the challenge.

While the Great Hall of the Exhibition Building has been many things to many exhibits, for the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic it was a hospital ward filled with iron-framed hospital beds.

Over all the Spanish flu killed more than 12 000 Australians. 4000 people were treated at the Royal Exhibition Building between February to mid-September. And of those 4000 who entered, 412 souls were unlucky enough to never walk out. And much like the coronavirus, the Spanish flu didn’t discriminate, taking nurses, doctors and the average person alike.

Historian Mary Sheehan, who is completing her PhD on the social impacts of the Spanish flu, had this to say about the usage of the Royal Exhibition Building as a makeshift hospital:

I suspect the Exhibition was used because of its size and its proximity to the city, and ease of access for ambulances and medical professionals.

Originally the overflow from the hospitals was being taken up by the military-run Base Hospital that sat along St Kilda Road, you’ll actually find part of Melbourne University there now. But the Base Hospital was properly struggling to keep up with the extra demand and had to make the difficult decision to stop taking civilian patients. Meaning that if you weren’t part of the ADF you had nowhere to go.

And so after careful consideration, of which tents at both Flemington and Caulfield racecourses were considered, it was eventually decided upon that the Royal Exhibition Building, with its large rooms and tall ceilings, could handle the task thrust upon it.

Covid vaccine

It’s been more than 100 years since the Royal Exhibition Building was called upon to provide valuable aid in the midst of a pandemic, and late last month, on Monday 22nd March, it was asked once more to be on the frontline of another pandemic.

As Australia starts to ramp up its vaccination rollout, and moving to Phase 1B, where anyone over 70 or with an underlying condition is now eligible for a vaccine, there are a lot of people in need of a jab.

With over 6 million people alone in Phase 1B across the country, it’s the largest vaccination program phase so far. And even though it’s had its issues, we won’t blame any of those on the Royal Exhibition Building.

Empty for over a year, since the cancellation of the Melbourne Fashion Festival in March last year, the Royal Exhibition Building continues to be a landmark that people can look to for hope, as it’s been transformed into a massive vaccination centre. It’s expected that at its height it will be able to vaccinate more than 10 000 people in a single week, with St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne’s deputy chief pharmacist, Helen Dixon, confirming:

At maximum capacity we will be able to do 2500 a day.

Although on the first Monday only 80 vaccination slots were available, a scaling up effort is expected. Meaning that we should see 400 individuals vaccinated by the end of the first week. Which will then be increased again depending on staff and supply levels.

Frontline workers such as Paramedics, police officers and fire service members were offered first pick of the slots.

Here’s the health service’s chief executive Angela Nolan telling us what this means:

It’s a really exciting moment because it marks the start of what we think is hope for our community.

It’s expected that as the year goes on and the vaccination rollout rolls on that the vaccination clinic at the Exhibition Building will open to members of the public, with the hope that we meet that capacity of 2500 a day.

The brilliance of the Royal Exhibition Building is in its vastness. The large space means that the spreading of the infection is limited, and it’s also hoped that everything the Exhibition Building has been through will provide helpful perspective to patients.

Here’s Nolan again, to tell us why: