Brisbane City Council ceases high school vaccination program, saying cost to ratepayers ’unsustainable’
Brisbane City Council has decided to end its secondary school vaccination program from next year, citing a massive cost to ratepayers despite the program being funded by the State Government.
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BRISBANE City Council will cease its high school immunisation program from next year, judging the ongoing cost to ratepayers as unsustainable.
The council has delivered the program on behalf of Queensland Health since 2007, vaccinating about 34,000 students in the 2019-20 year alone.
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Although Queensland Health provides funding, the Courier-Mail understands the program, delivered in 111 high schools, still costs council at least $500,000 a year.
In most other areas of the state, Queensland Health either delivers the service directly to schools or contracts a third-party provider.
Brisbane City Council will continue to run free community immunisation clinics at 14 locations across the city, although has foreshadowed timetable changes next year, with some clinics changing from weekly to fortnightly.
Discussions are ongoing about the possibility of Brisbane City Council staff transferring to Queensland Health, given the council’s decision to end the school program.
The council’s immunisation program has 13 casual employees, including five permanent staff, six permanent flexible part-timers and four temporary workers.
Queensland Health provides funding to run both the council’s immunisation programs with Brisbane City Council staff working across community clinics and in schools.
High school students receive a range of vaccinations including the Queensland-developed cervical cancer vaccine, as well as jabs to protect against some strains of meningococcal bacteria, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.
BCC’s City Standards, Community Health and Safety Chair Kim Marx said the school immunisation program would transition back to Queensland Health from 2021, after “the service left Brisbane ratepayers footing the significant funding shortfall”.
“We want Brisbane residents to stay healthy and safe but ratepayers are unable to continue subsidising the cost of more than 44,000 annual vaccines, while the school immunisation service is largely managed by Queensland Health in other parts of the state,” she said.
“Brisbane ratepayers have been subsidising the service for more than 100 secondary schools despite council routinely requesting additional funding from Queensland Health to cover the costs.”
Brisbane City Council’s high school immunisation clinics will finish on November 27.
Queensland Health said public health units across Brisbane were developing a 2021 delivery model for the high school immunisation program with support from Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young and the department.
“We remain committed to ensuring this critical program continues,” a QH spokeswoman said.