CORONAVIRUS — VACCINATIONS
— MINING AND PASTORAL REGION
597. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the minister representing the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the low vaccination
rates in the Mining and Pastoral Region.
(1) What are the rates of people
who have received their first dose or are fully dosed in —
(a) the Kimberley;
(b) the Pilbara;
(c) North West Central; and
(d) Kalgoorlie?
(2) What are the wastage rates as a percentage of
total vaccines administered in the electorates mentioned in (1)?
(3) Given the risks associated with communities with
low vaccination rates, including Aboriginal communities, and the vital role of the mining sector in WA,
when does the minister anticipate achieving vaccination rates of 70 and
80 per cent respectively of eligible community members?
Hon STEPHEN
DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer is provided on behalf of the
Minister for Health.
(1) (a)–(d)
The COVID-19 vaccination rates information
comes from the Australian Immunisation Registration, which is
commonwealth data. WA Health is not authorised to provide this data.
(2) WA Health is unable to provide
this information by electorate.
(3) In line with
the expected increase of vaccination supply from the commonwealth government,
WA Health is on track to achieve the target
of 70 per cent of individuals aged 16 and over being fully vaccinated by the
end of 2021. The WA Country Health Service
is one provider of COVID-19 vaccines in country WA, along with general
practitioners, community pharmacists and Aboriginal medical services. WA Health
is also working collaboratively with other providers and industry partners
around the state to increase capacity and reach this target. This target is the
focus of current operations.