Covid Victoria: Melbourne suburbs with most cases, lowest vaccine numbers

The case numbers and vaccination data that reveal why authorities are so worried about the city’s west.

Victoria’s Covid-infected suburbs are also the slowest to get vaccinated, an analysis of virus data has found.

Wyndham has seen 2288 cases since the start of the pandemic — the largest number of cases per local government area statewide — yet only 16.5 per cent of eligible adults are fully vaccinated and 35 per cent have had their first dose.

City of Wyndham takes in Truganina’s Al-Taqwa College, the site of two outbreaks. Now, a pop-up vaccination clinic has been set up to try to increase jab numbers during the state’s sixth lockdown.

Al-Taqwa College in Truganina is where the state’s latest outbreak began. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling.

The latest cluster at the college began with a female teacher in her 20s and her male partner, who is an optometrist at the Spectacle Hub in Caroline Springs and plays for the Newport Football Club.

The outbreak then spread into Hobsons Bay and Caroline Springs.

Of Thursday’s 21 new cases, 17 were linked and 15 of those were isolating during their infectious period.

Ten are linked to Al Taqwa, four to Newport Football Club and three to Caroline Springs Shopping Centre.

Brimbank and Hume were the state’s most infected local government areas, recording totals of 2053 and 1676 cases respectively since March 2020, followed by Whittlesea on 1228 cases and Melton 1157.

Vaccination rates in Melbourne’s northwest — which takes in Hume LGA suburbs, including Broadmeadows, Craigieburn and Dallas — were the lowest in the state with only 15.6 per cent of residents fully vaccinated and 34.7 per cent having their first dose.

Melbourne’s northwest has been the slowest area to take up the Covid vaccine. Picture: Getty Images

Other metro areas recording low jab numbers include Melbourne’s southeast, with 16 per cent fully vaccinated and 36.4 per cent with one dose

Local government areas within Melbourne’s South East include City of Casey, which has recorded 1077 cases since the start of the pandemic, Greater Dandenong; 546 cases, Monash; 356 and Cardinia; 202.

Melbourne Inner, which covers Darebin South, Brunswick and Yarra, North East (Banyule, Kinglake, Whittlesea) and Outer East (Knox, Maroondah, Manningham)— also had low vaccination rates.

Darebin has seen a total of 694 Covid cases, Brunswick (in Moreland LGA) 1058 and Yarra 471.

Melbourne’s inner south, which takes in suburbs including Brighton, Caulfield and Malvern East, had the highest vaccine rate in metropolitan Melbourne — with 23 per cent of residents fully vaccinated and more than half receiving their first dose.

Brighton (in Bayside LGA) has only had 267 cases, Caulfield (in Glen Eira LGA) has had 250 cases and Malvern East (in Stonnington LGA) has had 265.

The good news comes in Victoria’s regions, where the highest vaccination rates and lowest case numbers have been seen.

More than one quarter of Geelong’s population is now fully vaccinated, with 25.9 per cent of eligible adults in a population of 317,857 receiving their second dose.

Only 371 cases of Covid have been recorded in Greater Geelong since March 2020.

Bendigo and Ballarat had the next highest rates, with 25.1 and 23.5 per cent respectively fully vaccinated, and only 102 and 58 cases respectively.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal of Altona North Medical Group told 3AW on Thursday there were many reasons why the western suburbs had a high concentration of Covid cases.

Melbourne’s most Covid-infected communities have been slow on vaccine uptake. Picture: Getty Images

“We have people who work in many areas, we have people who have to go to work, we have people working in industries where there’s a high concentration of cases — healthcare, childcare, aged care — and we do have a younger population so they are not getting vaccinated because they can’t get vaccinated, and the list goes on,” Dr Haikerwal said.

“It’s not a western suburbs issue only. It’s going to be an issue we have seen in other parts of this state and certainly other parts of other states.”

When asked why more people weren’t getting vaccinated in the west, Dr Haikerwal said:
“There’s more people in Wyndham than there is in Canberra, but there’s not the same level of provision of services as there is in Canberra to Wyndham.”