Up to 15 per cent of Victorian aged care residents opting out of vaccine

A significant amount of residents in Victoria’s aged care homes are opting out of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the Health Minister.

A significant number of aged care residents in Victoria are choosing to opt out of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the Health Minister.

Up to 15 per cent of residents in aged care haven’t been vaccinated because they or family members haven’t consented to the jab, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday afternoon.

He urged people in homes or their families who provide consent to consider the “absolute importance” of vaccination.

Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said some aged care residents were still not consenting to the coronavirus vaccine. Picture : NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“It can save your life. It can save the life of mum or of dad or of grandma or grandpa,” Mr Hunt said.

However he reiterated that most people who were residents in Victorian aged care homes had received a coronavirus vaccine.

“We have seen 85 per cent of residents in residential aged care facilities ... vaccinated so far.”

It came as the country’s health secretary Dr Brendan said people over the age of 70 were at greater risk of dying from coronavirus than from a rare clotting disorder associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“The risk of dying from Covid if you’re over 70 is one in ten,” he said.

People wait to receive their Covid vaccine jab at the Melbourne Convention centre on Sunday. Picture: David Crosling

“It is 10,000 times more likely that you will die from Covid then you would get this rare clotting condition,” Dr Murphy said.

It comes after a staff member at the Arcare facility at Maidstone in Melbourne’s west contracted the virus. Health authorities have yet to discover how the woman contracted coronavirus.

The healthcare provided has only had one dose of a vaccine and only one third of the staff at the aged care home had received a jab, authorities confirmed.

Victoria recorded five new positive coronavirus cases.