Covid-19 vaccine blitz of 30 at-risk Indigenous communities to start in coming days

A Covid-19 vaccination blitz of 30 at-risk Indigenous communities will start in coming days, as fears grow over the impact of the Delta strain on Aboriginal Australians.

Wiradjuri elder and Indigenous rights activist Aunty Jenny Munro after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine in Redfern in inner-south Sydney. Picture: AAP

A Covid-19 vaccination blitz of 30 at-risk Indigenous communities will start in coming days, as fears grow over the impact of the Delta strain on Aboriginal Australians.

Health Minister Greg Hunt and Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt on Tuesday announced a vaccine boost in a raft of urban and regional Indigenous communities to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.

More than $7m will be given to the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation to fund extra vaccine staff in Indigenous communities and help to fight vaccine hesitancy.

Despite Indigenous Australians being among the first to access vaccinations, the Morrison government has been criticised for stubbornly low jab rates among Aboriginal Australians; outbreaks have now led to deaths in Indigenous communities such as Wilcannia in western NSW.

Mr Hunt said he was committed to ensuring Aboriginal vaccination rates exceeded the national targets of 70 and 80 per cent with the new blitz. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been a priority for vaccination since the beginning stages of the national vaccination program,” he said. “Considerable effort has been taken to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are widely available for communities.

“We are absolutely committed to seeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander vaccination rates meet, if not exceed, the national target.”

The vaccine blitz will target communities in Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Sydney and Wollongong.

The federal government has had success in budging Indigenous vaccination rates in western NSW – where the first outbreaks in Indigenous Australia occurred – with first doses having increased from 44.2 per cent to 67.8 per cent and second doses rising from 26.1 per cent to 39.7 per cent over the past four weeks.

NACCHO chief executive Pat Turner said the vaccination efforts among Indigenous communities needed to accelerate to keep up with the recent outbreaks. “This additional funding will further bolster our work in supporting all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access a vaccine by the end of this year.”