Getting the COVID-19 vaccine will keep the NT safe

As Territorians we have a responsibility to get vaccinated and encourage others to do the same – and if we don’t take that responsibility seriously the consequences could be deadly, writes MICHAEL GUNNER.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner receives his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Dr Lionel Crompton in March 2021. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

THE Territory was the safest place in Australia in 2020 because Territorians were the best. You were the best at staying safe, staying smart and staying vigilant.

We need to be the best again in 2021 – and this year, being the best means being vaccinated.

We will keep doing whatever it takes to keep COVID-19 out of the Territory.

But the hard truth is this: COVID will not be globally eradicated.

That means Fortress Australia, and Fortress Territory, must only open up to the rest of the world when we are ready – and being ready means being vaccinated.

We’ve got a long way to go to get there.

Because we’ve been so safe, and our lives are nearly back to normal, it’s understandable many Territorians feel relaxed and aren’t focused on getting the jab as it becomes available.

But it’s time for that thinking to end, right now, because when it comes to COVID, complacency is the killer.

To stay safe, and to stay the best, we need a Territory-wide effort here.

I know that I need to do more – along with the PM and other political and clinical leaders.

We need to get through to people that we can’t live in a bubble forever, and that the world will never fully eradicate this virus.

The only pathway to normal is the vaccine.

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There are great lessons in the Spanish flu epidemic a century ago.

Australia kept it out when it hit the world in its first two waves, but we couldn’t hold out forever.

In 1919, the third wave arrived and killed 12,000 Australians.

Awfully, Aboriginal people were not counted at the time, so we don’t know the true numbers.

But the anthropologist TGH “Ted” Strehlow wrote that it “wiped out the bulk of the ageing, chronically undernourished population in the Southern and Central Aranda areas, and made serious inroads elsewhere”.

This is the tragedy of getting it wrong and this time it must be different.

The Spanish flu never went away.

It morphed into new variants, such as bird flu or swine flu.

We live with them today – and we can do that because of vaccines.

It’s the same with COVID-19.

We can reach herd immunity and live with it without devastating consequences – but only if we embrace the jab.

The vaccine rollout is well under way in remote communities, and our NT COVID-19 vaccination lead Michelle McKay has reported that many of our Indigenous communities were lining up and can’t wait to be vaccinated.

But some others are showing reluctance.

Vaccine hesitancy is a massive concern.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner receives his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

The Territory has more vulnerable people per capita than most parts of Australia.

I believe as Territorians we have a responsibility to get vaccinated and encourage others to do the same.

If we don’t take this seriously, the consequences could be deadly.

On Monday, we entered a new phase of the rollout.

Anyone over 50 can book in at covid19appointment.nt.gov.au and get the jab at any of more than 20 facilities.

From May 25, a Katherine clinic will come to be accessible online, and Gove clinics will also open within about two weeks – giving us coverage at all regional centres.

Alice Springs has become the first regional centre in Australia where anyone over 16 can book in for a jab.

It effectively means anyone in the Territory outside of Darwin can now book in for the jab.

The rollout is gathering pace.

Our clinicians are doing everything they can – now they need our help.

Let’s do our bit.

Do it for yourself, for your family and for your mates.

Do it for your community, and for the Territorians who are vulnerable.

That’s the Territory way. Do it together.

Michael Gunner is the NT Chief Minister.