State warned of ‘huge risk’ to vulnerable people

NSW risks setting a national reopening precedent that leaves vulnerable people behind, with social services groups warning the double vaccination target of 70 per cent could mask inequity in low-income communities.

Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) said it has been unable to access an income bracket breakdown highlighting vaccination rates of the poorest groups, despite multiple requests to the state government and national cabinet.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at her last daily press conference on Sunday.Credit: Edwina Pickles

The claim comes as COVID-19 case numbers rise in inner Sydney suburbs like Glebe, Camperdown, Redfern and Waterloo, including among vulnerable groups and in public housing.

While a vaccination breakdown by suburb is published by NSW Health, ACOSS says that does not provide a full picture of inoculation rates by income.

ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie and her NSW counterpart Joanna Quilty on Saturday wrote to Premier Gladys Berejiklian urgently seeking vaccination data by income.

“We are seriously concerned about whether the road map has considered the effects on vulnerable groups if we don’t achieve safe vaccination rates in those groups specifically,” Ms Goldie said on Sunday.

ACOSS has called for an income bracket breakdown of vaccination rates.Credit: AP

“We have already seen the terrible consequence of very low vaccination rates in places like Wilcannia (in north-western NSW). There is a huge risk in maintaining a single focus on the aggregate target of 70 per cent.”

A spokeswoman for Premier Gladys Berejiklian declined to comment.

NSW reported 1262 new local cases on Sunday and another seven deaths, taking the Delta outbreak death toll to 177.

Ms Berejiklian said 45.6 per cent of people aged 16 and over in the state were fully vaccinated, and 78 per cent of this age group had received their first dose.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said NSW needed to redouble its efforts to protect the most vulnerable.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Chief Health Office Kerry Chant said vaccination rates by suburbs published online showed positive upticks in areas of concern with lower socio-economic profiles, while acknowledging vulnerability existed across the board.

“Even in the most affluent areas, you will often find pockets of disadvantage,” she said, acknowledging extensive work was being done to reach vulnerable communities.

“The challenge for us is to do all we can to make sure that our vaccine coverage is incredibly high in those groups ... and redouble our efforts in order to protect the most vulnerable.”

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Friday released an analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing people on lower incomes have died of COVID-19 at four times the rate of higher income individuals.

In her letter to the Premier, Ms Goldie said ACOSS was “deeply concerned” about the precedent NSW could set if it opened before safe vaccination rates were achieved in vulnerable groups.

“As Dr Chant highlighted, people on low incomes and with great vulnerabilities live everywhere across our communities,” Ms Goldie told the Herald.

“Which groups are being left behind? Has data been gathered? If it has, it needs to be released”.

Ms Goldie said ACOSS could not support a recovery road map that does not specify vaccination assurances for vulnerable groups.

A federal Department of Health spokesman said more than 22.7 million vaccines had been administered, with more than 67 per cent of people aged over 16 having received a first dose.

“The department is not able to provide vaccination rates by income level,” he said.

Vaccine supply is expected to increase across NSW in coming weeks, after one million doses of the Moderna vaccine were secured by the federal government from European Union countries. The doses will be directed to local pharmacies within 14 days.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was not aware of the extra doses until they were announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for Ms Berejiklian declined to comment when asked if the Premier had been informed before delivering her 11am update, her final formal daily briefing.

Ms Berejiklian said, in future, she would front the media when she needs to announce a major milestone, “or when I feel I need to be accountable,” conceding the next two months will be the most challenging.

“That could be seven days a week, some weeks it could be three times a week. It depends on what’s going on,” she said.

Labor leader Chris Minns later said it was hard to understand the Premier’s decision when October was set to be the toughest month for the health system.

More than half of cases continue to be recorded in Sydney’s west and south-west. However, cases continue to rise in inner-city suburbs, with City of Sydney local government area reporting 60 cases on Sunday.

Health authorities have also expressed concern about numbers increasing on the Central Coast and in the Illawarra, while there are 74 inmates with COVID-19 at Silverwater Correctional Complex.

There are 1206 cases coronavirus patients admitted to hospital, with 220 in intensive care and 92 requiring ventilation.

Dr Chant said vaccine supply was improving, and she was confident people would embrace vaccination for 12- to 15-year-olds, with federal government approval for Pfizer in that age group to take effect from Monday.

Dr Chant said she was confident that NSW would hit the 80 per cent first dose milestone mid-week and challenged the community to hit 90 per cent the following week.

“Let’s also work across our most disadvantaged communities to make sure that no one is left behind, as we strive to have the most equitable distribution or vaccine of any country in the world,” she said.

As hot and sunny conditions drew large crowds at beaches in Sydney’s north and east, Dr Chant expressed sympathy for communities under stricter lockdown in the west, but said in reality outdoor environments were “probably the safest”.

From Monday up to five fully vaccinated residents outside the LGAs of concern can gather outdoors for recreation such as picnics. Within the LGAs of concern, households can undertake outdoor recreation for two hours a day, as long as the adults are vaccinated.

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