Aboriginal health body NACCHO gives warning of the dangers of Delta for remote NT communities

A major Aboriginal health authority has warned that the devastation the Delta variant has wreaked in a NSW town could happen in remote parts of the Territory unless there is a greater uptake of the vaccine.

THE national leadership body for Aboriginal health has warned that the devastation the Delta variant has wreaked in Wilcannia could soon happen in remote parts of the Territory unless there is a greater uptake of the Covid vaccine.

The stark message from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) pointed out the many similarities between remote NT and the vulnerable far west NSW Aboriginal communities that Delta ripped through amid an outbreak in August.

“Wilcannia has a lot of things that are like remote NT communities,” explained Dr Jason Agostino, an epidemiologist and medical adviser to NACCHO.

“These rural and remote communities with a lot of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait people have the same issues with crowded housing and poor quality housing.

“The conversation needs to shift from playing the blame game towards recognising that Delta is devastating Aboriginal communities right now, and it will continue to unless vaccination rates get up.”

Of the more than 1000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to test positive to the virus since June this year, three people – all from western NSW – have died.

Wilcannia, located about 550km west of Dubbo, has been one of the worst Aboriginal communities affected. Of its population of 745, at least 112 people have tested positive to the virus.

Out of a population of 745, at least 112 people tested positive to Covid-19 in Wilcannia. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

When the first case in the region was record on August 12, less than 20 per cent of the Aboriginal population over the age of 16 had received their first jab, and just 8 per cent had been fully vaccinated.

“We’re concerned about how Covid can spread through these kinds of communities, and how quickly it does,” Dr Agostino said. As the Territory edges closer to easing border restrictions and moving away from hard lockdowns, remote communities in the Barkly and Central Australia remain “areas of concern”.

At least eight communities in these regions, many with populations of several hundred, have a first dose vaccination rate of less than 25 per cent. A handful have double vaccination rates as low as five and six per cent. NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the government was watching the vaccination rates in remote communities closely and was working to improve uptake. “We are considering what public health measures may be required for those communities that do not hit the (80 per cent double dose) target,” she said. “NT Health vaccination teams have repeatedly visited remote communities, and made the vaccine and all the accompanying information on its safety available. Rates remain low in some communities despite up to six visits from NT Health and the vaccine being on site and available.”

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