Melbourne’s western suburbs are lagging in the vaccination rollout

As Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout gathers momentum, these Melbourne suburbs are lagging behind in jab uptake.

Melbourne’s western suburbs are lagging in the vaccination rollout, as three out of five people over 16 wait to receive their first dose.

But vaccination rates are rising strongly in regional areas and at least 55 per cent of eligible residents in Bendigo, Geelong, Hume and Warrnambool are partially or fully vaccinated.

As of Sunday, 47.39 per cent of Victorians had received at least one dose. But just 39.5 per cent of eligible people in Melbourne’s northwest had been vaccinated, as well as 40.9 per cent in the west and 41.3 per cent in the southeast.

The data comes as pharmacists push the federal government to ditch its vaccine delivery contracts with Linfox and DHL, because the current system means they have to wait two weeks for supplies.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey urged the government to revert to using the trusted Community Service Obligation delivery system that gets supplies to chemists nationwide within 24 hours.

“Why set up a separate system and have to learn on the job when logistics experts already exist?” Mr Twomey said.

“The taxpayers fund, to the tune of a billion dollars over five years, the CSO … for whatever reason, that supply chain was not chosen to be the distribution mechanism for the ­national rollout.”

Last week many young people recieved the AstraZeneca vaccine. Picture: David Caird

After a delayed introduction to the rollout, pharmacies delivered 59,396 doses last week, compared with more than a million doses administered by GPs.

Following questions from the Herald Sun and the Pharmacy Guild, the government is believed to be examining whether wholesalers can have a role in delivering vaccine.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Karen Price said delayed deliveries were a challenge at the start of the rollout, but the system had since improved and she was not in favour of changing it.

In a bid to bolster vaccination rates, Telstra moved on Monday to offer its staff $200 worth of “appreciation points” if they were fully vaccinated.

The points can be used for gift vouchers from major chains and products including fashion and electronics.

“As a team of many thousands serving many millions of customers, we have an important nation-building role to play,” Telstra chief Andy Penn said. “It is part of the fabric of our company. The quicker we are vaccinated, the quicker we are safer and stronger ­economically.”