South West Aboriginal COVID vaccination rates critically low

The South West’s Aboriginal population will be left vulnerable to COVID unless more is done to boost the community’s vaccination, an Aboriginal medical service has warned. The community vaccination rate is 30 per cent lower than the rest of the region and well below the State average, which this week reached a milestone 70 per cent of people 12 years and over now fully vaccinated. The shocking figures have been revealed as the Federal Government announced it will fund a $200,000 campaign to boost vaccination rates in northern WA, fronted by Australian film and television legend Ernie Dingo. While welcoming this funding for communities up north, the South West’s only Aboriginal medical service is calling for more funding and resources for the region before the State’s borders come down. South West Aboriginal Medical Centre chief executive Lesley Nelson said not enough was being done for the region’s Aboriginal communities, despite vaccination rates being as low as some of the crisis areas the Federal Government funding is targeting. The centre received funding for two extra nurses to help with the vaccine roll out, but this funding will run out in January. Ms Nelson met Premier Mark McGowan and Bunbury MLA Don Punch on Saturday, calling on them to help improve the region’s low numbers. “We talked about preparing and how to protect our communities when the borders come down in January or February,” Ms Nelson said. “In the South West we are only about 30 per cent vaccinated. “This is going to leave our community vulnerable when the borders come down in January or February.” After conducting education drives and offering incentives, vaccination numbers increased from about 20 doses per week to about 140 at their Bunbury clinics. By comparison, other medical centres in Bunbury are vaccinating about 500 people each week. WA is lagging behind the rest of the country, with only 48 per cent of Aboriginal people having received their first dose. 35.4 per cent of Aboriginal people in Bunbury are fully vaccinated, less than Broome which sits at 38 per cent. The situation is grave in some parts of the north, such as in Halls Creek where only 23.3 per cent of the Indigenous population is fully vaccinated. But towns like Collie do not fare much better, where only 29 per cent of the Aboriginal community have had both doses. Wheatbelt town Leonora has the lowest rate in the State at just 10.4 per cent. “$200,000 has been invested for up north. We need to see this kind of funding invested in the South West as well,” Ms Nelson said. “We know when the borders come down our community will be at risk. “The rest of the State, they can’t wait for our community. “We’ve got to get our people vaccinated.” SWAMS is the only aboriginal medical service in the greater South West, servicing a population of about 12,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ms Nelson said she hoped to have further conversations with the Premier about supporting health outcomes once people in the community begin contracting the virus. “We want to have further conversations with him about improving the hospital system and health outcomes for our people,” she said.