Covid Qld: 90 per cent vaccination rate elusive despite low hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy has plunged to a new low in Queensland, but there are fears the state might still not reach the magical figure of 90 per cent coverage.

Vaccine hesitancy in Queensland has fallen to its lowest level yet amid the State Government’s strict mandate, but the latest data shows securing the 90 per cent fully vaccinated milestone is not yet guaranteed.

And infectious disease experts say it’s a “real concern” that Queensland may not reach the levels needed to trigger a full reopening of the state’s borders.

The Premier’s announcement that the unvaccinated would be locked out of pubs, clubs and other public recreation spaces from December 17 sparked a seven-day surge in uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine, but that has since waned.

At the peak of the surge, Queensland’s seven-day first-dose average was 18,000 – double what it had been just before the mandate was announced – but that has since dipped to about 12,000 first doses a day.

The latest information shows 85.29 per cent of adult Queenslanders have had one dose and 74.5 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

There are still about 194,000 Queenslanders who need to get their first dose in order for the state to hit the 90 per cent mark.

But Melbourne Institute data shows reluctance among Queenslanders is still too high for the state to hit the milestone, which is needed to remove the remaining state government domestic and international ­border restrictions.

The Melbourne Institute’s latest vaccine hesitancy tracker, to be released Thursday, shows 6.1 per cent of Queenslanders are unwilling to get the Covid-19 vaccine and 5 per cent ­remain unsure.

The overall hesitancy rate of 11.1 per cent is down from a few weeks ago when it was at 18.3 per cent.

Infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin revealed he was not confident Queensland could hit the 90 per cent milestone if efforts weren’t intensified to convert the uncertain.

“I think we should not be complacent and assume we will get to 90 per cent,” Dr Griffin said. “It has been proven achievable in Victoria, NSW, and the ACT, but the fact that we are still struggling at the moment to get people vaccinated, it’s concerning.”

He said as Queensland’s vaccination rate climbed it would become harder to convince the hesitant to change their minds, and serious efforts were needed to address that.

Immunologist Robert Booy said the low enthusiasm in Queensland to get the vaccine was a “real concern” when it came to hitting the 90 per cent goal.

Both experts point to Queensland’s overwhelmingly successful containment of the pandemic as the main cause of the community’s complacency around getting the jab.

Authorities, including incoming chief health officer Dr John Gerrard, have expressed confidence Queensland will hit the 90 per cent mark.

Professor Booy said Queen­sland’s seven deaths, compared with nearly 2000 nationally explained why the state was so careful about letting people in.

But he said the challenge was to do it in a careful but more considered way, saying there needed to be more compassion and more common sense in the system.

Meanwhile, another Melbourne Institute study found a third of parents with children aged 5-12 were unwilling or hesitant about vaccinating them against Covid-19.

Hesitancy, as per the report by Professor Anthony Scott and Dr Kushneel Prakash, increased in parents that have children under the age of five.

They found parents’ willingness to have their children vaccinated correlated strongly to their experience of Covid-19, with those in NSW and Victoria more supportive of the vaccine.

Those who were dissatisfied with the Federal and State governments’ Covid-19 policies were also much less willing to have their children vaccinated.

Federal authorities have indicated any expansion of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout to children under 12 likely won’t occur until early next year.

In Queensland, two of every three children aged between 12 and 15 have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Science student Ella Herring, 18, of Toowong in Brisbane, received her second dose of vaccine yesterday and said she was relieved to finally be fully protected.

“I felt a sense of urgency to get it, and I definitely felt more at risk before, especially during lockdowns,” she said.

Ella Herring, 18, is now fully vaccinated. Picture: Jerad Williams

Originally published as Covid Qld: 90 per cent vaccination rate elusive despite low hesitancy