Callout for NT residents to change Medicare address to help reach vaccine target

NT residents must change their Medicare addresses so the Territory can safely reach vaccination targets.

NEW South Wales, which has the most active cases of coronavirus in the nation, is set to reopen in October when 70 per cent of their population is fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, our government and opposition are squabbling about how to count the number of Territorians who are vaccinated.

But the voice of reason finally spoke up on Wednesday.

Robyn Cahill, chief executive of the privately-run Palmerston Super Clinic, warned against the Northern Territory simply counting jabs administered.

She said about 20 per cent of people who had been jabbed in the Territory to date had interstate postcodes.

What use is a vaccine to protect if these people are then leaving the Territory to live in another community, a place they actually call home.

This potentially gives Territorians a false sense of security.

But the Gunner government is right to be peeved by the federal government’s Medicare method.

We, as Territorians, are being duped by this method and it could lead to “the safest place in the country” being one of the last to hit the vaccine target.

Let’s encourage all those Territorians, the ones who call themselves local but haven’t changed their Medicare address, to get it done.

A government incentive might help but what’s more incentive than opening up to the rest of Australia when we know we’re safe?