What you said about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout

We recently surveyed a range of Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander community members in South Eastern NSW about your thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, and whether you intend to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Of those surveyed, more than half of you (53%) were female and 48% were male. Most of you were aged in the 44–55 (38%) and 25–35 (30%) age bracket.

In addition, more than a quarter of you (28%) live with disability. More than half of you (56%) also live with chronic illness.

Finally, three-quarters of you were from the Southern part of the region (Ulladulla to Eden).

When we asked whether you knew someone who had contracted COVID-19 – including yourselves or a family member – 100% of people said no! However, 50% of you had been tested for COVID-19 as a precaution.

It was great to see that 93% of you had spoken to your friends and family about the COVID-19 vaccine. The main reason you wanted to talk about the vaccine was to discuss keeping relatives and Elders with underlying health issues safe, as well as contributing to herd immunity in Australia.

Interestingly, a huge majority of you (90%) are likely to encourage others to receive the vaccine, whether friends, family members, or workmates.

However, a significantly lower number of you (50%) indicated that you intend to have the COVID-19 vaccine yourselves.

Above: We asked whether you intend to have the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

For those respondents who do intend to get the vaccine, the top three reasons were as follows:

  1. To protect my loved ones
  2. To protect vulnerable people
  3. To protect myself

The top three reasons for not wanting to get the COVID-19 vaccine related to fears over this vaccine in particular; a strong stance against vaccination in general; and other health reasons for not getting vaccinated and / or a fear of needles.

Almost three-quarters of you (70%) plan to access the COVID-19 vaccine at your local general practice, followed by an Aboriginal Medical Service (30%).

Some of you indicated that the opinion of family and friends would influence your decision on whether to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This highlights the importance of making sure good information is available to talk about and share, helping people make informed decisions.

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Thank you to the survey respondents for sharing your thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout!

Vaccinating the local community will take time, but everyone who would like to be vaccinated will be able to access the vaccine. To find out if you are currently eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, please refer to the vaccine eligibility tracker on the Department of Health’s website.

Learn more about keeping yourself and others safe in this short video about ‘herd immunity’.

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If you would like to stay in touch and hear from us about future health-related surveys and consultations, we encourage you to sign up as a Friend of COORDINARE! Together we can help to improve local health outcomes.