Covid-19 vaccine: Regional Victoria rollout figures revealed
Just a fraction of country Victorians have had their Covid-19 jab. Find out how each region fares and how access will soon change.
Just over 6 per cent of regional Victorians have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus via state-run vaccination centres.
And a further 16 per cent of the 1.4 million people outside metropolitan Melbourne have had their first injection at state hubs, new data obtained by The Weekly Times reveals.
The figures are the first to indicate how the Covid-19 vaccine rollout is tracking across regional Victoria, with some community leaders suggesting a lack of access, vaccine hesitancy or complacency could be holding people back from getting the jab.
“Our vaccination hub originally sat a little idle, but after the latest Melbourne outbreak, demand really increased and I think people are getting over a bit of that hesitancy,” Wodonga mayor Kevin Poulton said.
“Now we’re concerned about getting a little left behind.”
The Federal Government this week launched a $41 million campaign aimed at increasing vaccine uptake, while promising there would be one million Pfizer doses available nationally each week, from next week.
Figures from Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services show, as of July 8, the state’s six regional health services have provided 322,692 doses so far: 235,936 first doses, and 85,756 second doses.
That’s about 26 per cent of the 1.23 million doses provided by all state-run services.
The data does not include the number of GP-provided vaccines. That information is held by the Commonwealth.
The federal health department did not provide regional data to The Weekly Times; Victoria-wide, there had been 1.17 million doses given in primary care settings, to July 8.
Barwon Health, servicing Geelong and the southwest coast tops the DHHS list with 116,423 total doses, while Bendigo and Ballarat Health are on par with 54,800 doses and 52,270 doses.
Albury Wodonga Health – which uniquely services both Victoria and NSW – is the lowest so far, with 27,605 total doses and just 6984 people fully vaccinated at its centres, in a catchment of about 250,000 people.
Despite the region being a major border crossing between Melbourne and Sydney, Mr Poulton said the fact they had managed to avoid “any real catastrophic outbreak” so far meant people felt “pretty safe and secure”.
“I think if like the cities we had sudden cases of single or double figures in the community, we would see a different response here,” he said.
Mr Poulton believed there was “still a bit of confusion” among the community regarding how and where the vaccine was available, and that communication from both federal and state governments could be improved.
Across the other side of the state, Mildura mayor Jason Modica agreed more education and certainty was needed. Despite not having had a case for about 15 months, the city has been subject to about four lockdowns.
“It’s that understanding that the moment we get to a certain point of vaccination, we can get back to our normal lives a lot more,” he said.
Mildura has one state-run vaccine hub, which opened in June and is booked out until further notice for Pfizer vaccines. Sunraysia Community Health Service is advising patients travelling outside the region to consider getting their Pfizer jab elsewhere.
The next state-run centre is about 330km away in Horsham. Some have reported travelling interstate or as far as Ballarat to get their vaccine.
Independent MP for Mildura, Ali Cupper said overall the rollout in her region had not been satisfactory. A state-run vaccine hub should have been set-up from the start, she argued, while the lack of supply rested with the Federal Government.
“We’ve gone 15 months without a case, so I can understand why you’d prioritise other regions, but at the same time, just because we haven’t had a spike doesn’t mean we’re not immune to a spike,” she said.
“We’re still pretty skittish here about our vulnerability, and our general right not to be left behind.”
PHARMACIES OPEN FOR JABS
Regional Victorians will soon be able to get their Covid-19 jab from their local pharmacists, with a handful of regional pharmacies finally approved to start delivering vaccinations.
Between seven and 10 regional pharmacies are understood to have the okay to administer the vaccine from next Monday. While the exact locations are yet to be announced, News Corp has reported that Yackandandah and Beechworth are among them.
About 4000 pharmacies across Australia applied to deliver the vaccinations when the Federal Government called for expressions of interest earlier this year, but until now just 49 regional Queensland pharmacies had been approved.
Another 113 sites in Victoria, NSW and South Australia will come on-board next week, including the regional locations.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia vice-president Renae Beardmore said while up to 10 regional locations was “not very many in a populous state like Victoria”, it was a good start.
“PSA and the Pharmacy Guild have long felt there is a role for pharmacies where there is no vaccine hub, limited GPs, or in some towns where they don’t even have a GP,” she said.
“A lot of people on the land are older and don’t necessarily want to travel, and others don’t have the means to travel so it’s easier for them to get to a pharmacy.
“In Victoria lockdowns would also have impacted people’s willingness to travel – we’ve got to take it (the vaccine) to where the patients want to be, not make them come to us.”
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