Shift needed to boost jab rates amid vaccine suspicion
A leading public health doctor spearheading a regional vaccinination push has urged a rethink of the rollout to turn around jab hesitancy among Indigenous Queenslanders.
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A LEADING public health doctor spearheading a regional vaccination push has urged a rethink of the Covid-19 jab rollout to turn around hesitancy among Indigenous Queenslanders.
North West Hospital and Health Service last week joined forces with the North Queensland Cowboys and Rex Airlines to sponsor the Make the Choice community vaccination drive at Doomadgee and Mornington Island.
Gulf of Carpentaria vaccination rates are falling significantly behind the national average.
A free sausage sizzle, Cowboys merchandise and the chance to get a selfie with former NRL stars Matty Bowen and Antonio Winterstein enticed hundreds to the clinic, but only 16 eligible residents got the jab on Mornington Island.
After the event last Tuesday, Townsville Public Health Unit’s Dr Steven Donohue said new systems used in the rollout had contributed to suspicion of the vaccine.
“We’re trying to convince the community that this vaccine is a normal part of medical care, and it’s an ordinary vaccine just like all the others that people trust,” he said.
“But everything we’re doing is telling them the opposite.
“It’s a special program with special staff, a special schedule and different information systems and special events. People are suspicious.
“You need to mainstream this vaccine, and deliver it in the same way that all the other vaccines, then you can get that confidence (associated with) established systems.”
NWHHS head of vaccination Toby Wicks said on Mornington Island 60-65 per cent of an eligible population of 700 had received at least one shot and 46 per cent of people living in the Gulf region are fully protected.
“More than half have actually had both of their vaccines already, we’ve picked up a couple of second doses and a lot of first doses for people that might have been a bit apprehensive about getting the jab,” he said.
Mr Wicks said there was two main reasons for vaccine hesitancy.
“The first is, we haven’t really seen Covid and it’s not on the public agenda out here,” he said.
“The other thing is misinformation, particularly on social media that drives (the message) in the opposite direction.”
Some jab recipients told the Cairns Post they got the vaccine ahead of a belief it would be made mandatory but others such as Save the Children youth worker Tali Tabuai said getting protected was the right thing to do.
“My reason is my partner and I just travelled down to Sydney … I think it’s best to have both jabs before you go interstate,” he said.
“Just in case you rub shoulders with someone with Covid and then come back to the community because it would spread like a bushfire.”
A total of 29,000 doses have been administered throughout the Gulf region from 11 sites and Royal Flying Doctor mobile clinics.
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Originally published as Shift needed to boost jab rates amid vaccine suspicion
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