South Australia’s council areas with the worst Covid-19 vaccine rates

South Australians living in the Far North and Adelaide’s northern suburbs have the worst Covid-19 vaccination booster rates, data shows.

South Australians living in the Far North and Adelaide’s northern suburbs have the worst Covid-19 vaccination booster rates, data shows.

Latest SA Health figures list Roxby Downs, Playford, Adelaide Plains, Salisbury, and Coober Pedy with the lowest levels.

Almost 70,000 residents are not fully vaccinated, which experts say means three jabs, in the top five areas with the lowest rates.

In response, SA Health has launched a mobile vaccination blitz this week at a dozen locations including Roxby Downs, Salisbury and Para Hills.

City areas at Port Adelaide and Hilton are also a priority.

Mobile clinics will further visit the Eyre Peninsula at Kimba, Cleve and Cowell; Meningie in the southeast; Leigh Creek and Hawker, in the Far North and Peterborough, the Mid-North.

Roxby has the state’s lowest with fewer than half of its 2179 eligible adults not fully vaccinated, followed by almost a third of Playford’s 39,895 locals failing to roll up a sleeve.

In contrast, boosters have been administered to 72.4 per cent of 1.3 million eligible adults in SA. Almost 370,000 people are not fully jabbed.

That number has risen almost a percentage point in a fortnight since the state government launched a new campaign to boost sluggish third dose rates.

Chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier will present the latest data to Covid-19 chiefs on Tuesday at a meeting of the state cabinet’s Emergency Management Council.

Professor Nicola Spurrier wants to boost third jab rates. Picture: Tom Huntley

“We are continuing to focus our vaccination efforts in areas with low vaccination rates through our mobile vaccination clinics.”

“(They) are visiting regional and remote areas … to boost our third dose rates.

“These are walk-in clinics, so no booking is needed and I encourage people to get up-to-date with their vaccinations as soon as possible.”

She said jabs were the best defence against illness and virus transmitting.

“Omicron can be less severe than the Delta variant, but it can still make you very sick and it’s been responsible for hundreds of deaths in SA,” she said.

“Three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine is needed to be protected against Omicron.

“Please don’t hesitate to book your third dose as two doses leaves you vulnerable to serious illness.”

Roxby Council chief executive Roy Blight, said officials were working with health officials, and BHP, to boost rates among a younger population with an average age of 30.

“The numbers are a reflection of a younger demographic,” he said.

“The younger populations have been less inclined to have a third dose.”