Experts seek higher child vaccination rate

Paul Osborne | February 23, 2022

Schools may soon play a key role in lifting the COVID-19 vaccination rates of children.

So far in Australia 49.2 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked infectious diseases expert Professor Julie Leask to lead a roundtable next week with the commonwealth, states and health sector to look at what can be done to improve the vaccination rate.

“One of the primary topics is in-school vaccination,” Mr Hunt said.

“We’re encouraging all of the states to conduct extensive, comprehensive in-school vaccination programs.”

A study by the federal government conducted earlier this year showed at least two-thirds of parents intended to have their children vaccinated.

Some parents have been put off by vaccine misinformation, while others have found it difficult to get time off work or find an accessible local clinic.

First-dose rates for young children across the states vary from 77.2 per cent in the ACT to 42.2 per cent in Queensland, according to the latest health department data.

Across the country, 94.3 per cent of people aged over 16 have had two doses of a vaccine, while 10.9 million Australians have had at least three.

Meanwhile, there were a further 14 deaths in both NSW and Victoria on Tuesday, while Queensland had five fatalities, South Australia three and the NT reported one.

Victoria registered 6786 new infections, with NSW reporting 8752, Queensland having 5583 and South Australia 1378.

The ACT and Tasmania had 583 and 820 cases respectively, while the NT recorded 716 cases and WA had 258.