Australian workers most exposed to Covid-19 not getting vaccinated

They have the highest chance of getting Covid-19, but vaccination levels among these workers are critically low. See the full list.

Airport and hotel staff, taxi drivers and the Australian Border Force are some of the workers with the highest potential exposure to Covid-19, but the lowest rates of vaccination, it can be revealed.

An investigation into jab rates in the Australian workforce shows just 43 per cent of aged care workers are fully vaccinated, while among airport workers the proportion is 33 per cent and for the marine unit of the Australian Border Force the numbers drop to 25 per cent.

While vaccination rates are tracked through age, sex and location, there are no government records for how many people in different industries have been immunised against Covid-19, which means even for essential workers such as teachers, pharmacists, childcare workers and GPs, there is no way of knowing how many of them have had one dose of vaccine, two doses, or no doses at all.

Even for meat workers, who were identified as a key target group for vaccines after Covid-19 outbreaks at abattoirs, there are no industry-wide statistics.

“AMIC does not have current vaccination statistics across the meat industry, it is a company-by-company matter,” a spokesman for the Australian Meat Industry Council said.

“From a meat industry perspective, we were listed in the 1B priority group, however the rollout has not been handled as such, with no assistance for options such as onsite vaccination hubs for large meat processors and manufacturers. Companies have had to manage this themselves.”

Estimates of vaccination rates in some sectors of the workforce have been obtained through unions and industry associations surveying their members.

A survey of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation members working in aged care, for example, found just 43 per cent of respondents were fully vaccinated. About another 20 per cent had only received one dose of vaccine.

A survey of aviation workers carried out by the Transport Workers’ Union found just one third were fully vaccinated, and 46 per cent were unvaccinated.

The TWU is currently gathering similar data for truck drivers, including furniture removalists.

A worker is seen loading a plane without a mask. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Roy VanDerVegt

Australian Airports Association Chief Executive James Goodwin said airport workers were “at the forefront of exposure to passengers from all over the nation, including those flying in from Sydney and Melbourne hot spots”.

“People might be surprised to learn that domestic aviation and airport staff are not currently on the vaccine priority list and those under the age of 40 do not have access to the vaccine at all. This includes workers such as baggage handlers, security screeners, cleaners and terminal staff,” he said.

“Governments must prioritise this essential workforce and provide access to the vaccine now. It should not be up to individual employees to try to get themselves vaccinated.”

While other industries had not surveyed members to determine vaccination rates, they are exposed simply by their high proportion of workers aged under 40.

Industries that rely on younger workers are more heavily exposed to low levels of Covid-19 vaccination.

In accommodation and food services, 75 per cent of employees are below 40, and in retail trade the proportion is 62 per cent. Taxi industry sources said around 40 per cent of drivers in metropolitan areas were under 40.

Less than 10 per cent of all Australians under 40 are fully vaccinated.

Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW CEO Michael Johnson said the most urgent need was to ensure workers in hotel quarantine were vaccinated, saying they had been “in the front lines of the fight against this pandemic since it reached our shores”.

“With the national cabinet announcement of a quarantine hotel program review, all state and territories should implement a mandatory vaccination order for quarantine hotel workers, similar to that recently introduced in NSW,” Mr Johnson said.

The CPSU has raised concern about low levels of vaccination among Australian Border Force employees.

A spokesman for the Commonwealth Public Sector Union said there were disparities in the coverage rate in the Australian Border Force, with just 25 per cent of workers in the National Marine Unit fully vaccinated, compared to 95 per cent of agency staff at Sydney Airport.

“Workers are slowly getting vaccinated, but the Department has not taken many proactive steps to facilitate this,” the CPSU spokesman said. “We have requested that the Department take certain measures to facilitate this, such as making arrangements so (workers) are vaccinated before they disembark from a vessel, or contributing to travel expenses for workers who have to travel to get the vaccination. No steps have been taken in that area.”

The issue was concerning because members of the ABF marine unit interacted with foreign nationals while at sea, potentially exposing them to Covid-19.

In a written statement the Australian Border Force said: “Approxmiately 56 per cent of Marine Unit staff who have consented to being vaccinated have received at least one dose of the vaccination.”

“Where staff are undertaking roles where vaccination is mandated by either the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee or a public health order and they do not consent to vaccination, they will be deployed into alternative suitable roles.”