The Department of Health has reported that Australian parents are protecting their children from disease at “record rates”.
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said the 2021 second quarter statistics from the Department’s Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) revealed that children remained above the national immunisation target of 95 per cent for all five-year-olds, coming in at 95.18 per cent.
“This is the third consecutive quarter Australians have been above the 95 per cent target, a fantastic achievement when compared to the rate of 74.4 per cent in 2005 when five-year-old immunisation rates were first recorded,” Mr Hunt said.
“This gives Australia the herd immunity needed to stop the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said.
“The five-years-old immunisation rates are also well above the estimated World Health Organisation international average immunisation coverage rate of 83 per cent in 2020, making Australia a world-leading vaccination nation.”
Mr Hunt said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at five years of age continued to have the highest coverage rate of any group at 97.12 per cent.
The Minister said among two year olds, the coverage rate had increased to 92.63 per cent for the 12 months to June and one-year-old children had a coverage rate of 94.85 per cent.
“Parents and carers continue to show their confidence in Australia’s expert medical advice to keep their children protected and safe from life-threatening illness,” Mr Hunt said.
