Fears NSW nursing homes could be just as vulnerable to mass infection as Victoria’s after shock revelation eight facilities have not received a single vaccine dose and 200 only have their first shots
- Residents in 8 aged care homes in NSW have not received a single vaccination
- 207 homes and around 90 per cent of staff are not fully immunised from Covid
- Four of the positive coronavirus cases in Victoria are linked to aged care
Eight aged care homes in NSW have not received a single vaccination and 207 facilities have only had first jabs.
Only about eight per cent of aged care workers in New South Wales have been fully immunised, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Overall there are residents in 21 aged care homes across the country that have not been vaccinated, despite that group being the first priority in the rollout that started three months ago.
So many elderly residents being unvaccinated raised concerns the state may face an outbreak among elderly residents if the virus made its way into nursing homes.
The virus seeped into residential homes in Victoria, with four of the latest Indian strain cases linked to aged care in the state.
Eight aged care homes in New South Wales have not received a single vaccination and 207 facilities have only had first jabs. Pictured: Pop-up Covid-19 testing clinic in Sydney
About 10,900 aged care residents in NSW have been visited by nurses with the vaccine but did not receive a jab.
NSW Health Department associate secretary Caroline Edwards told a Senate hearing on Tuesday many residents were not consenting to being immunised.
‘There may be people who have arrived since, there might be people who were sick at the time or for another reason,’ she said.
‘We’re swinging back round to get those people who haven’t consented previously in the hope they will now consent.’
Only about eight per cent of aged care workers in New South Wales have been fully immunised. Pictured: People lining up for Covid-10 testing clinic in Sydney
A female resident in her 90s at Victorian aged care home Arcare Maidstone Aged Care who tested positive to Covid-19 had only received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
A staff member at the same facility who was on personal leave when other workers were getting their jab on May 12 has tested positive.
23 of 76 of the residents at the home did not consent to being vaccinated before Monday, when the others received their second dose of Pfizer.
Overall there are residents in 21 aged care homes across the country that have not been vaccinated. Pictured: Woman receives AstraZeneca vaccine in Sydney
Vaccine hesitancy among Australians has risen since last year, and less than 15 per cent of the country’s population have been vaccinated as of May 28.
One in five Australians said they probably or definitely would not get a vaccine, a survey from the Australian National University from January this year found.
90.6 per cent of Australians over 75 said they wanted the jab. Over 55s and under 24-year-olds had the highest levels of willingness to get immunised.
Women, indigenous Australians, people who speak a language other than English, and people who have not completed Year 12 are less willing to get vaccinated.