Mayor concerned about border opening due to low Covid vaccination level

The mayor of an LGA with one of the lowest vaccination rates in Tasmania has expressed his concerns ahead of next month’s planned border reopening.

The mayor of one of the areas with the lowest vaccination rates in the state says he is concerned for when Tasmania’s borders reopen next month.

Department of Health figures released on Monday showed Circular Head had the second-lowest first-dose vaccination rate of any Tasmanian local government area at 80.6 per cent and the lowest second-dose vaccination rate at 63.6 per cent.

Mayor Daryl Quilliam said he believed apathy was the main reason the vaccination rate in the area was lower than other parts of the state.

“I think a lot of it’s because we live in a regional area, we’re a long way away from Hobart and Launceston,” he said.

“We haven’t had an outbreak in a while and people are get pretty complacent. I think there’s a number of people who think they are bullet proof.”

With just over a month before Tasmania reopens its borders, about 40,000 Tasmanians aged over 16 years and 9000 aged between 12 and 15 are currently unvaccinated.

Circular Head Mayor Daryl Quilliam. Picture: Cordell Richardson

Cr Quilliam said the council was continuing to encourage people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families.

“Around town you don’t hear that people aren’t getting vaccinated, many people are saying they are looking to get vaccinated, they probably should have done it at the start, but at least they are thinking about it now,” he said.

“When the border opens, I expect we will have some positive cases around and people will go get the vaccine, but they should be getting vaccinated before then.”

Health Department deputy secretary Dale Webster said the department was working hard to ensure people living in all regions of Tasmania had access to vaccinations before December 15.

“In addition to the GPs and pharmacies that are offering vaccination in these regional areas, the Tasmanian Vaccination Centre has either run or is running mass Pfizer clinics in Smithton, Ouse, Sheffield, New Norfolk and Scottsdale in November to vaccinate larger numbers of local residents in one go.”

He said a Covid vaccination bus had also been operating in regions and vaccination clinics were held at 16 regional high schools.

Kentish has a first-dose vaccination rate of 80.1 per cent and a second-dose rate of 66.1 per cent, Dorset a first-dose vaccination rate of 88.6 per cent and a second-dose rate of 69.7 per cent, while the Central Highlands had a first-dose vaccination rate of 86.4 per cent and a second-dose vaccination rate of 65.9 per cent.