Byron Bay low vaccination rate from poor Pfizer supply says health boss

There’s a good reason why Byron Bay is lagging behind the rest of the state, but it’s got nothing to do with vaccine hesitancy Healthy North Coast boss says.

A local health official has rebuffed suggestions the Byron community does not want to be vaccinated for Covid-19.

Healthy North Coast CEO Julie Sturgess said limited Pfizer supply has caused lower vaccination rates, and the area needs to be given a chance before people jump to conclusions.

Ms Sturgess said that until recently the allocation for the Byron shire from the national stockpile was quite low, and Healthy North Coast had been advocating for increased doses.

“This is being addressed, and we have a significant increase in the supply of Pfizer vaccine starting this month,” she said.

“We will see a 500 per cent increase in Pfizer doses being delivered to the Byron Shire within days.

“This will further increase next month to 800 per cent more than what we received in earlier months.”

Increased supply of Pfizer vaccines will be coming to the Byron Bay area.

The current rate of vaccination for the Byron Shire is 60.9 per cent first dose, and 34.9 per cent fully vaccinated, well below the state average of 83.02 per cent first dose and 54.2 per cent fully vaccinated.

Ms Sturgess said there was concern unvaccinated residents would be vulnerable when visitors start to return, with some suggesting anti-vaccination populations were to blame.

However, while she acknowledged the region had a minority population that may choose not to be vaccinated, she believed it was not general community opinion.

“We believe most people will choose to be protected as supply starts to meet demand,” she said.

“We need to give Byron Bay a chance before jumping to conclusions of widespread vaccine hesitancy.”

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Ms Sturgess said local medical clinics have reported long waiting lists for the Covid vaccine.

“We have been working closely with general practices that have been fielding high volumes of patient inquiries,” she said.

“The current Pfizer supply increase will assist them in starting to meet this demand.

“We’re confident we will see a strong uplift in numbers of residents being able to get protected over the next few weeks as these additional doses start to get administered.”

Ms Sturgess said they would be watching data and appointment availability closely over the coming weeks, and would work with local health providers if issues were identified with Byron’s uptake.

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“Pharmacies are also joining the rollout program to start offering Moderna vaccines, which also helps overcome previous supply limitations,” she said.

She urged locals to continue to be vaccinated, and not be complacent about the impact of the virus.

“Let’s make the North Coast a Covid-safe region so that we can safely make a return to a more normal life,” she said.