Clarence Valley vaccination rates still lagging behind Sydney

As restrictions lift and borders open, Clarence MP responds to concerns about how safe the Clarence Valley is when it comes to the new Delta variant.

Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis said he is already in talks about how best to keep the Clarence Valley safe against a coronavirus outbreak as the state continues to open up.

Concerns are being raised about the threat of a positive case entering the Clarence Valley region as restrictions begin to lift around the state and border bubbles are brought back into effect.

Qantas and Jetstar are already offering cheap flights from Sydney to regional NSW routes to coincide with the NSW Government’s expected reopening of travel for fully vaccinated people from Monday, October 18. However, effectively policing who is and isn’t vaccinated remains unclear.

With the Clarence Valley community currently 32 per cent fully vaccinated compared to an average 45 per cent full vaccination rate across Sydney, Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis said he was already in talks about how best to manage this potential issue.

“The concern is that when Sydney hits 70 per cent fully vaccinated they’re able to travel, while our rate will not have reached that level yet, we might be at 50 per cent, and it could make us vulnerable if someone who is positive visits the area,” he said.

“I’ve raised this with colleagues in our party room and continue to raise it, and I’m suggesting that greater Sydney residents not be allowed into these regions until they’ve also reached that target double vaccination rate.”

Mr Gulaptis stressed it’s not about alarming people but rather being proactive in avoiding a potential Covid outbreak in the community by encouraging people to get vaccinated and continue following public health orders.

“If we were to suffer from an outbreak in the country with the same numbers Sydney is experiencing, we’d be in a mess,” he said.

While he confirmed there is a major boost of Pfizer vaccine supplies on the way, Mr Gulaptis said talks with primary health networks to organise mass vaccination hubs for the Clarence Valley in order to keep up with Sydney had been fruitless.

“They think we’re tracking okay but I’m not convinced when I look at the statistics,” he said.

“Our vaccination rates are increasing daily, and we’ll certainly get there, but it would be great to have this community catch up with Sydney so when we do open up completely, we’re not behind.”