Providers must step up to protect residents

Winter virus season is in full swing, with state and territory health departments reporting rising numbers of COVID-19 and influenza cases, as well as unseasonably high rates of whooping cough and pneumonia.

And, as reported by Mary Ward in The Sun-Herald today, these viruses are ripping through the nation’s aged care facilities.

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Health authorities are particularly concerned by low COVID-19 vaccination coverage in aged care.

Older people are more susceptible to severe COVID-19 infections, and aged care residents are advised to have a COVID-19 booster every six months, regardless of whether they have tested positive to the virus during that time.

According to data from the federal Department of Health and Aged Care, barely two in five residents are up-to-date with their shots.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson have written to aged care providers, urging them to organise vaccination clinics to rectify the problem and reminding them of their obligations to reduce the risk of outbreaks.

But vaccine fatigue, or forgetfulness, is not only an issue in aged care. Fewer people across Australia are coming forward for the latest round of COVID-19 boosters.

Earlier this year, vaccine advisory group ATAGI updated its advice for the boosters, which are now recommended every six months for those aged over 75 or with certain health conditions, and annually for all other adults.

Despite this, only 38 per cent of over-75s, 25 per cent of people aged 65 to 74, and a meagre 4 per cent of under-65s have received a booster in the past six months.

As those vaccines sit in fridges in pharmacies and GP clinics, high rates of COVID-19, as well as a rapid increase in influenza cases, are concerning the virus watchers at NSW Health’s St Leonards head office.

The ministry’s executive director of health protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, believes the state will record rising respiratory infections over the next few weeks before the season peaks, the Herald’s Anthony Segaert reported on Wednesday.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has urged the state to book in for flu shots after the state recorded a 22 per cent increase in people presenting to emergency departments with influenza-like illness last week.

Flu vaccines are free for children aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged over six months, people aged over 65 and those with a serious health condition, due to their increased risk of severe disease, but anyone aged over six months can receive the shot at a GP. Those aged five and over can have one at a pharmacy.

Data from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance shows NSW is lagging other states when it comes to flu shots, with uptake particularly slow among those aged over 50.

Other jurisdictions have taken steps to reduce transmission of winter viruses amid concern about outbreaks in high-risk settings.

In the ACT, hospitals have reintroduced mask mandates and COVID-19 screening, and patients can only have two visitors at a time.

Such decisions in NSW would be made by individual local health districts and hospitals, based on local outbreaks.

No one wants to go back to the days of lockdowns and pandemic restrictions. But we cannot be complacent when it comes to protecting the vulnerable against potentially deadly winter infections.

Tasked with caring for society’s most frail, aged care providers must lift their game when it comes to administering COVID-19 vaccines to their residents by urgently organising vaccination clinics for those inadequately protected against severe disease.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission should use its powers to enforce providers’ obligations.

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