Indigenous vaccination rates lag in almost every region of Australia, new figures show | Australia news
Newly released figures on Indigenous Covid vaccination rates by region show that many areas in Western Australia are lagging well behind the rest of the country.
The data was released by the federal Department of Health on Wednesday following calls for greater transparency on Indigenous vaccination figures from Aboriginal health groups and Labor politicians, with senator Pat Dodson moving a motion in the Senate on Tuesday calling on the government to release vaccination rates for First Nations people by geographic area.
Guardian Australia has previously published leaked data showing the vaccination rates by region for New South Wales, however the new statistics cover all of Australia.
The regions used are statistical area 4 (SA4) regions, the same as those used to release the overall vaccination rates by area.
Western Australian regions have by far the lowest rates of fully vaccinated Indigenous people, with the areas outback south, outback north and Mandurah all under 10%.
Several areas of Queensland are low as well, with Cairns, central Queensland and the Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday regions all among the lowest nationally.
As previously reported, Victoria is leading the nation, and has the top four regions for the proportion of fully vaccinated Indigenous people.
The gap between Indigenous and the overall vaccination rate is also the best in Victoria, with only Victorian regions having higher Indigenous vaccination rates than the overall vaccination rate (these show as a ‘negative gap’ on the map):
With the Indigenous vaccination rate lagging behind the overall rate in most regions, various groups have raised concerns over plans to ease restrictions once vaccination rates reach 70% and 80% of the eligible population.
On Wednesday, Dodson condemned fringe Christian groups for promoting anti-vaccination propaganda in remote Western Australia, saying people who spread fear and misinformation around coronavirus vaccines were “evil”.
Western Australia’s health minister, Roger Cook, has previously blamed the federal government for the slow rollout, and told WAtoday that the state government was planning on meeting with Aboriginal Medical Services to see what further support could be provided.
The federal minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, has previously defended the rollout, saying he was “really pleased” with vaccination rates among Indigenous Australians, but citing vaccine hesitancy as a challenge, while others have identified a lack of supply as hampering vaccination efforts.
In parliament on Tuesday, Wyatt said the number of Indigenous people getting vaccinated was increasing: “Our work on the number of vaccinations is increasing, we have 37% having had their first dose and 20.5% having had their second dose so the numbers are increasing.
“We still have a lot of work to do. And so we will continue to focus on making sure people are vaccinated and safe,” he said.
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September 02, 2021 at 12:48AM
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