Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS) practice manager Christie Cain said that between Tuesday, August 24, - when the rapid-testing clinic was first mobilised - and Monday morning, 225 people had been swabbed for COVID in Orange so far.

According to Mrs Cain, the clinic which had been rolled out in partnership with the Western NSW Local Health District, was to assist those in Orange having difficulties getting to testing clinics.

"We're prioritising, at the moment, patients of close contacts [and] vulnerable communities that aren't able to get to a clinic," Mrs Cain said.

"That's anyone, even if they're not asymptomatic, they'll call through to a switch, and then they are booked in, and then allocated to a team who will then go out."

The OAMS was currently working on maximising its supply of COVID-19 vaccines, with the rate recently increased to 300 a fortnight and OAMS pushing for another increase.

"We're hoping to double that because demand is so prevalent at the moment so we're trying to keep up with demand and get as many people [vaccinated] as possible - especially Aboriginal patients and families," Mrs Cain said.

"And we want it to be accessible. So we're looking at doing [a vaccination hub] over in the Glenroi area," she added.

So far, the OAMS has completed 650 COVID vaccines, which is around 15 percent of the centre's entire client population.

"[There's] lots of vaccines still to be completed," Mrs Cain said, but that wasn't through lack of demand. "The interest for [vaccination] in the last week has been amazing. It's been quite overwhelming.... The uptake for that has been really, really good."

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