Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout boss insists the gap is closing between immunisation rates of Indigenous people and the broader population.
Just 42.3 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have received both doses compared with 64.4 per cent of the general population aged 16 and over.
The gap between first doses is even greater.
More than 83 per cent of over-16s have received one shot among the broader population, while the figure is just 57.5 per cent among Indigenous people.
Vaccine rollout co-ordinator John Frewen said the rollout was now catching up.
“A positive of the last three days is the first-dose vaccination rates for Indigenous peoples have exceeded the national averages,” he told a Senate hearing on Thursday.
“That’s the first time we’ve experienced that so we are starting to see a closing of the gap now.”
Lieutenant General Frewen said the discrepancy was the government’s primary concern.
Of particular worry were Indigenous vaccination rates in Western Australia, where the state has some of the lowest levels of overall coverage.
“We are very concerned about rates in WA and we are working closely with the vaccination program leaders in WA to not only understand the areas of highest priority but the specific requirements,” Lieutenant General Frewen said.
“We have got efforts going on in a number of communities.”
Similar vaccine strategies rolled out to Indigenous communities in western NSW and northern Queensland are also set to be enacted in remote WA areas, such as door-to-door activities or pop-up hubs.
Labor has blamed the Morrison government for a supply shortage which significantly hampered the Indigenous vaccine rollout.
Lieutenant General Frewen said that vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and complacency were also significant factors in lower immunisation rates.
The committee was told there had been stories of some members of the Aboriginal population believing the vaccine would reduce someone’s Indigeneity.
“There is very pernicious and hard-to-counter misinformation,” Lieutenant General Frewen said.
By Matt Coughlan and Andrew Brown in Canberra, AAP
