Western Australian health authorities say vaccination numbers among Aboriginal communities could be better as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the regions.
Western Australia's Aboriginal strategic advisor to the vaccine commander, Wanita Bartholomeusz, said the numbers were important.
"Every vaccination means an opportunity that someone is getting protected and protecting [their] community," she said.
Ms Bartholomeusz said they would like to see the vaccination rate among Aboriginal people in the state reach 95 per cent.
"We [are] chasing the mainstream numbers because we don't see a difference between our community and the non-Aboriginal community," she said.
"If it's 90 per cent for non-Aboriginal people, then we're chasing 90 per cent plus for us as well."
Aboriginal Vaccination |
1st dose 12yrs+ |
2nd dose 12yrs+ |
Booster dose 16yrs+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA Regional | 79 per cent |
69.8pc |
29.8pc |
Goldfields |
51.8pc |
45.6pc |
19.6pc |
Great Southern |
69.6pc |
63.7pc |
33pc |
Kimberley |
76.8pc |
66.6pc |
33pc |
Midwest |
76.4pc |
66pc |
30.9pc |
Pilbara |
65.4pc |
56.7pc |
24.3pc |
South West |
76pc |
70.6pc |
40pc |
Wheatbelt |
70.8pc |
63.6pc |
32.7pc |
Complacency creeping in
Ms Bartholomeusz said misinformation played a huge role in hesitancy.
"I'm encouraging the community to be wise, make sure they go and get educated if they're concerned about any issues, and seek out the right information."
Ms Bartholomeusz said the real concern was who else this information was being shared with.
"They're the ones that are educating the nanas and pops and so sometimes the nanas and pops are getting misinformation," she said.
Aboriginal health lead for the vaccination program, Francine Eades, said complacency was creeping in.
"I think there's a bit of fatigue around the conversation of COVID … especially for the youth [thinking] 'I don't necessarily need to go out and get vaccinated'," she said.
"But it's really important in terms of self-care this is an ever-evolving virus, viruses … don't stay the same and we have new variants of concern.
"You just don't know what the next variant of COVID might look like and how infectious or how severe it might be."
Boosting vaccination numbers is key
Ms Bartholomeusz said the more people put it off the longer it takes to get protection.
"To be able to get people their second and third doses, we know [they] have to wait three weeks between your first and second dose, and then three months between your second and third dose," she said.
"That's going to be a challenge in terms of vaccination percentages and numbers.
"We want to make sure … if [people] are eligible for their booster dose they're taking that up and they're not stalling or delaying because obviously COVID is in the community."
Ms Eades said they continue to work with key stakeholders to come up with solutions to boost vaccination numbers.
"Our epidemiologists are watching other states in Australia and the world to see what's evolving," she said.
