26 September 2023

Audit finds gaps in vaccine roll-out

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An audit report on the Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out found it had been effective for many people, allowing the Department to be confident of meeting its 80 per cent vaccination target by the end of 2021.

However, in her Report, WA’s COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out, Auditor General, Caroline Spencer said there were places and people “many of them at a higher risk to the health impacts of an outbreak”, that had been missed by the roll-out so far.

“While this is partly due to vaccine hesitancy, inequitable access has also had an impact,” Ms Spencer said.

“For some people, making an appointment online and travelling was not practical, and some areas did not have local State-run clinics until recently,” she said.

“For example, a clinic was only opened in Armadale on 18 October.”

Ms Spencer said while the Department had demonstrated agility in its response to frequent policy changes and, in the early stages, uncertain vaccine supply, there had also been a lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities between the State and Commonwealth Governments.

The Auditor General said there had been a lack of sustained coordination and planning for some of the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities, including Aboriginal people in metropolitan Perth.

“At the start of the program, Aboriginal people were identified as high-risk and were one of the first eligible groups to be vaccinated,” she said.

“At 9 November, only 31 per cent of Aboriginal people were fully vaccinated compared to 67.8 per cent of the State overall.

“Based on current progress, this will only increase to around 40 per cent by December.”

Ms Spencer said there was also limited information on vaccination rates among other hard-to-reach groups, like the homeless or the culturally and linguistically diverse.

“These vulnerable groups are at increased risk of health impacts in a COVID-19 outbreak,” she said.

The Auditor General’s Report recommended the Department put coordinated plans in place to prioritise vaccine access for clinically vulnerable groups to minimise the impact from COVID-19 outbreaks, and articulate plans for the conclusion of the emergency vaccination roll-out, incorporating lessons learned from the roll-out.

The audit team was Jason Beeley, Andrew Harris, Kimberly Payne, Ben Travia, Tina Trichet and Keagan Vorster.

The Auditor General’s 23-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.

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