“We need to be careful that applying the rule with a guillotine[on September 30] won’t cause major disruption to healthcare and closure of services,particularly in the regions,” he said.
“Healthcare workers are coming out to get vaccinated,but there is still a way to go. We need to keep improving access in small towns and be careful putting a drop-dead date on vaccination when it still may be difficult to get a booking.“
Brett Holmes,general secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association,said regional areas were already under strain from long-term healthcare staffing shortages.
“Even one less nurse or midwife from a ward or unit will have an impact,” Mr Holmes said
While someSydney councils have recorded first-dose vaccination rates of above 95 per cent,in Byron Shire the figure across residents aged 16 and over has just passed 60 per cent.
Numbers are particularly low in the 2481,2482 and 2483 postcodes – taking in Byron Bay,Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads – where 50 to 59 per cent of people have received a first dose and 30 to 39 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The Northern Rivers is known for having the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the state. In June,89.8 per cent of five-year-olds in Northern NSW Local Health District had received their vaccinations,below the statewide average of 95 per cent. The rate in Byron Shire specifically was 70.7 per cent.
On Tuesday,Health Minister Brad Hazzard suggested the region’s lower vaccination rate was part of the reason whya single case of COVID-19 had resulted in a snap lockdown.
“There’s a degree of hesitancy,obviously,in the northern area but also some genuine concerns that the vaccine availability has not been what it could have been,” he said,encouraging locals to take advantage ofdoses of the Moderna vaccine available in pharmacies from this week.
But Byron Bay Mayor Michael Lyon said the council’s comparatively low vaccination rates were “100 per cent a question of supply”.
“Hesitancy is an issue across the state and certainly in Byron Shire. But that is not the reason we are lagging behind,” he said.
“We’ve been getting,by far,less doses than any other north coast LGA in the state. There are still long,long waits to get a booking for Pfizer – we’ve had supply redirected on a couple of occasions and despite all of this we’re at over 60 per cent first dose.
“There’s a lot of people in that under 60 age bracket who are on the waiting list and have an appointment in November and December. When we can fast track those people you will see our rates exceed a lot of our neighbours.”
Over the past three weeks,about one in eight Byron Shire residents aged 15 and over have come forward for their first vaccination.
More than 600 Pfizer vaccinations were administered at Bay Centre Medical’s Byron Bay and Suffolk Park sites last week. Appointments are booked out until mid-October and its dose allocation is set to double later this month due to the demand.
But practice manager Karina Masterson said locals were choosy about their brand of vaccine and their rollout had been hampered significantly by only having Pfizer available since last Monday.
“And now I keep hearing ‘I’m waiting for Novavax’,” she added.
Ms Masterson said,although supply had been an issue,anti-vaccination attitudes were still prevalent and some people had accepted they would not work when mandates were introduced.
“They’re thinking a linen shirt is going to protect them from COVID ... I’m a bit over it,” she said.
The federal government’s vaccine booking website only shows active Pfizer appointments at four clinics across Byron Bay,Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby:one had available appointments for October 26 at the earliest,two did not have bookings until early November,and one did not have any listed. AstraZeneca shots were available this week through at least two pharmacies in Byron Bay.
The closest vaccination hubs are in Tweed Heads,which has bookings available,and Lismore,which does not. Cr Lyon said “plenty of people” had travelled across the region or into Queensland for an appointment. “But it’s not realistic for a lot of people,” he said.
Rod Palmer,operator of the Altitude 261 rainforest retreat outside Mullumbimby,is one local who resorted to driving 50 kilometres to Tweed Heads. He has written to the local health district and local public health network Healthy North Coast to express concern about supply.
“The vaccination rate in the Hills[in Sydney] is 95 per cent,but you can get a vaccine in Castle Hill within two days. Around here the next appointment isn’t until October 12,” he said.
Mr Palmer acknowledged hesitancy meant “the ceiling of coverage we can get to will always be lower”,but believed numbers so far were more to do with prioritising vaccines in areas which currently have high cases,such as western Sydney.
As a tourism operator,he was concerned for when Sydneysiders flood businesses in October,despite the area being unlikely to have a full vaccination rate much above 50 per cent. “There has been so much focus on where the fire has been,there is no focus on where it will go next,” he said.
Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce president Mark Ryan said Byron was the state’s most sought-after holiday destination. “It’s such a good opportunity to capture all of that Sydney tourism – why aren’t we prepared?”
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“We’re looking to summer,people are coming out of lockdown and taking early holidays,they’re going to start booking accommodation,restaurants,tours,” he said.
“If 70 to 80 per cent vaccination isn’t reached,and we need to lock down when everyone else is open,that’s catastrophic to businesses. Where is the assurance to book a holiday? I hope that for anyone who was sitting on the fence,this new lockdown is enough to motivate them.”
with Pallavi Singhal