Oops, Grant might not have nation’s worst vax rate

One SA area’s label as having the worst vaccination rate in the nation might be unwarranted, with the health chief hinting at a statistical anomaly.

The extremely low vaccination rate in the South-East district of Grant could be down to a simple error in data recording, it has been revealed.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier on Monday said SA Health’s vaccination team had suggested the low rate recorded in Federal Health Department figures may be due to people recording their postal addresses rather than their residential addresses.

“So we were looking at the vaccination rates in Grant and it didn’t make a lot of sense to me because actually (in) Mount Gambier there’s 76 per cent of eligible adults have had a vaccine – that’s the Mount Gambier township itself,” she said.

Professor Nicola Spurrier speaks to the media. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“Looking into this in more detail today our vaccine team suggested that it may be because people in Grant actually register their postcode as a PO Box in Mount Gambier so it may look artificially low so we’re going to delve into that in a bit more detail.”

“It might not be quite as bad as we thought.”

Official statistics for the Grant District Council Area, which surrounds Mt Gambier, has the lowest jab rate in the country.

Just 11.5 per cent per cent of the council area’s 7072 people aged 15 and over have had two doses and 20.8 per cent have had one dose. That compares with the statewide averages of 69.5 per cent first dose for people aged 16 and over, and 51.5 per cent fully vaccinated.

Grant Council chief executive Darryl Whicker was keen to see how the data had been collated and whether a higher percentage of locals had actually been vaccinated than previously thought.

The district had a large transient population, he said, with holiday homes and farms in the area, so there could be uncertainty over which addresses were recorded.

However, he said there was still a shortage of vaccination appointments in the region, and it was not uncommon for people to have to wait two months to get in.

“Unless they increase the amount of vaccinations I’m not sure how much of a difference it’s going to make,” he said.

Mr Whicker said if cross border community members were required to have had at least one jab, health authorities must shore up supply first to enable people to comply.