Melbourne’s inner-city councils irate at ‘inaccurate’ vax figures

Inner-city councils with what appears to be low Covid vaccination rates say the data is ‘inaccurate’ for this reason.

Melbourne’s inner-city councils want “inaccurate” federal government data fixed in order to better represent local vaccination rates.

It comes as new data revealed the City of Melbourne was still lagging far behind the state average. Just 75.2 per cent of the population have received one dose while 67.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

In nearby Yarra, only 76.9 per cent of their eligible 90,535 residents have had one shot while 71.5 per cent received both doses.

Just under 80 per cent of Port Phillip’s 102,175 residents aged over 15 had one dose, while 73.5 per cent were fully vaccinated, and of Stonnington’s 103,900 ratepayers, just 76.3 per cent are fully jabbed.

Many suburban and regional councils are boasting full vaccination rates of well above 80 per cent.

The Herald Sun understands that transient populations are behind some of the lower vaccination rates in the inner city areas.

A pop up vaccination van in Epping. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

The population data is based on the last census. However, the vaccination rates are linked to the addresses where people’s Medicare cards are registered. 

At the 2019 Census data, international students made up one-third of the City of Melbourne’s population.

“It is difficult to gauge how many of them remain in Melbourne, but some estimates are less than half,” Lord Mayor Sally Capp said.

“We have raised the inaccuracy of the data as it relates to the City of Melbourne on numerous occasions with the Commonwealth since August.

“No other municipality has done more than City of Melbourne to help its community get vaccinated.”

City of Port Phillip mayor Louise Crawford said many people, including visa workers, international students and younger residents returning home, had left the municipality over the past 18 months.

“We are seeking clarification about whether data based on the historically high transient population living in Port Phillip is giving the impression that our vaccination rates are lower than they actually are,” Cr Crawford said.

“Our population is likely to be lower than the data currently being used to assess vaccination rates.”

Originally published as Melbourne’s inner-city councils irate at ‘inaccurate’ vax figures