Central Australia misses out on federal government’s prioritised vaccine rollout despite low uptake

Three areas in the NT were selected for the federal government’s prioritised vaccination rollout, but Central Australia, which has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, was not one of them.

DESPITE many remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia posting some of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, the region has been excluded in the federal government’s prioritised vaccination rollout.

NT Minister for Health Natasha Fyles said the additional support from the commonwealth was appreciated, but said the NT government was unsuccessful in lobbying for more support for Central Australia.

“We are working constructively with the commonwealth government to vaccinate all Territorians as quickly as possible,” she said.

“Our main areas of concern with the vaccine rollout include a number of communities in the Barkly and Central Australia region.

“The Territory government lobbied the commonwealth for Central Australia to be prioritised, however any additional support from the commonwealth is appreciated.”

Ms Fyles said the government had significant resources and would achieve peak vaccine supply over September and October.

“We are confident that in the next six to eight weeks our overall vaccine rate in the Territory will be high – particularly when we get more supply out to remote regions in Central Australia,” she said.

Remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Picture: Brendan Radke

“From that point, we will get a clear picture of the areas where we will need to further concentrate our resources working in partnership with community leaders and health educators to improve vaccine rates.

“We are also working closely with organisations including Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), Aboriginal community controlled health organisations and land councils to ensure all Territorians have easy access to vaccines no matter where they live.”

Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt announced on Tuesday a boost to the vaccination rollout for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across 30 priority areas in Australia. Greater Darwin, North-East Arnhem Land and Barkly were the three areas in the Northern Territory selected.

Figures released by the NT government show that as of September 10, there were 11 remote Central Australian communities where the percentage of people vaccinated was at 10 per cent or below.

The data showed just five per cent of residents at Yuelamu, Willowra and Aputula were fully vaccinated.

The NT News understands Chief Minister Michael Gunner visited Mutitjulu and Finke on Tuesday to see for himself why there is vaccine hesitancy.

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress declined to comment.

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