Hospitality boss Alex Bruce says true NT Covid jab data needed to be released to inform industry

Industry leaders are calling for the release of vaccination data from across the Territory.

INDUSTRY leaders are calling for the release of detailed vaccination data from across the NT.

The NT government has not released detailed vaccination rates for the Territory’s remote communities despite previously saying these rates will determine when the Northern Territory can open its borders.

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said it was crucial there was transparency around the data.

“During the last lockdown, when he was giving the daily updates, we were all watching the Chief Minister and he made it clear these lockdowns would continue to happen until he was happy with the vaccination rates in the communities,” Mr Bruce said.

“If this is the case we need to know what those vaccination rates are.”

There is disagreement between politicians and health bureaucrats about whether data relating to remote communities should be released.

NT vaccination lead Bhavini Patel said releasing the information could potentially identify individuals and families. “Some of the communities are really small,” she said.

“We’ve got communities where there’s 30 people living there so there is a real confidentiality and trust-building exercise.”

Dr Patel declined to answer a question about why the Health Department couldn’t limit the information it releases to communities of more than 200 people.

Instead, Chief Minister Michael Gunner stepped in and said the government would consider making this information public. But Mr Gunner said there were gaps in the data the NT government was receiving, with many communities being vaccinated by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) in partnership with the federal government.

“I’m not convinced the Australian government is getting that information at the moment,” he said.

“We’re talking directly to the ACCHOs about getting that data. Obviously we’d be happy to get that data directly, the Australian government is the one they report to so the Australian government can get some more information to them if they want to, but I would love to get our hands on that data.”

Mr Bruce said the situation was unacceptable when business owners still didn’t know if they would be subjected to snap lockdowns next year.

“They’re six months into a prioritised rollout, they know where they’ve been, how do they have a rollout plan without knowing the vaccination rates, by region and by community?” he said.

“Otherwise, how do they know where to go or where they should go back to?

“They have to know this, otherwise there’s not much of a rollout, plan is there?”

Despite the uncertainty over vaccination rates in communities, the NT government on Monday morning released a statement saying the NT was on track to achieve another nation-first milestone with 50 per cent of Territorians set to be fully vaccinated this week.

Almost 220,000 doses have now been administered in the Northern Territory with 67 per cent of Territorians who have received their first dose and 48 per cent of Territorians now fully vaccinated, the statement read.

“The remote rollout is progressing, with 54 per cent of remote Territorians who have received one dose and 34 per cent fully vaccinated,” it said.

The government revealed NT Health teams were visiting communities including Julanimawu, Laramba and Willowra. Mr Gunner said: “The Territory has led the nation by recovering the fastest. We have led the nation with the best quarantine system. And we are leading the nation with the vaccine rollout.”

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said it had been just over six months since the NT launched its vaccine rollout.

“We will continue to focus on lifting vaccination rates in our remote communities and tighten our focus and (work) with community leaders and health educators to achieve an even spread of vaccination,” Ms Fyles said.

Originally published as Hospitality boss Alex Bruce says true NT Covid jab data needed to be released to inform industry