Victorian municipalities where child vax rate is lagging

As children return to Victoria’s classrooms, there are concerns about the lagging Covid vaccination rate in these areas.

Fewer than one in three primary school students have received a Covid vaccination in eight Victorian municipalities, and protection is severely lagging in regional areas.

As children return to the classroom on Monday, the Herald Sun can reveal the vaccination rate for ages five to 11 is lower in Hume than any other part of Melbourne – only 7292 out of 25,600 eligible children have received one dose.

Less than 30 per cent of children eligible for a vaccine in Mildura, Colac-Otway, Swan Hill, West Wimmera, Benalla and Murrindindi municipalities have received the vaccine, and that number is one in five in Hindmarsh.

The eight-week wait recommended between first and second doses means most children in these areas will not be fully vaccinated until after term one is finished.

Since Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine was made available on January 10, 43.4 per cent of Victorian children aged five to 11 – or 251,165 out of 578,446 – have rolled up their sleeves.

Health authorities are now bracing for a rise in Covid cases as a million students return to school this week.

They will be encouraged to complete two rapid antigen tests a week in an effort to prevent school outbreaks and ensure classrooms stay open.

A child receives a dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Picture: AFP

As of midnight on Saturday, two in five children in Casey – which has the largest number of children in the five to 11 age group, at 39,621 – had received at least one dose.

The vaccination rate was highest in inner city areas with fewer young children, including the City of Melbourne at 62 per cent. In Yarra and Maribyrnong, 56 per cent of children aged five to 11 had received one dose.

Almost half of municipalities across the state had rates between 40-50 per cent.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the state was hoping to vaccinate every eligible child.

“That’s how we’re going to drive down the Omicron variant, and that’s how we’re going to be best positioned for whatever curve ball the global pandemic pitches at us,” he said.

In an effort to increase child vaccination rates at the weekend, the state government allowed walk-up entry to several vaccination hubs and opened 15 pop-up clinics at schools.

At least 158 schools will have health providers visit in coming weeks to administer vaccines as well.

Royal Australian College of Physicians president-elect and pediatrician Jacqueline Small said some parents, students and teachers would be feeling “a mixture of excitement and anxiety” before their first day back at school.

Dr Small said it was important that schools followed basic health measures, including “physical distancing, handwashing, cough and sneeze etiquette, ventilation, staying home when unwell, frequent cleaning ... and limiting visitors to school grounds”.

Two million rapid antigen tests have been delivered to Victoria schools.

More than two million rapid antigen tests were delivered to schools by last Friday, and another 4.6 million tests are expected to arrive by Monday, to be distributed to families and teachers.

Mr Foley said that would give schools the confidence to stay open and respond quickly to any Covid-19 outbreaks.

At least 39.1 per cent of children aged five to 11 nationwide have had a Covid vaccination.

However, NSW is below the national average at 38.6 per cent.

The ACT has again been a fast mover, with 66.7 per cent of children aged five to 11 having received a first dose.

Australia is behind Canada in the race to vaccinate children against Covid-19 but it is in front of the US, Israel and Germany, which all started their rollouts before the end of last year.

The federal government maintains there is sufficient supply to offer all 2.3 million eligible children a first dose.