Think Tank Argues Lockdowns and Outbreaks May Push Vaccination Rates Higher

Rallygoer protesting against COVID-19 vaccine passports at the Worldwide Rally for Freedom, Peace, and Human Rights in Sydney, Australia, on May 15, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

Lockdowns in the eastern parts of Australia as outbreaks of the Delta variant continues has apparently prompted people to reassess their willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccination a new national poll revealed.

The Melbourne Institute’s fortnightly report card into vaccine hesitancy shows it has fallen, from 33 per cent at the end of May to 21.5 per cent last Friday. The poll surveyed 1,200 Australian adults.

The sharp drop in hesitancy over the past eight weeks is across all states and age groups.

Registered Nurse, Mesfin Desalegn administers the Pfizer vaccine to a client at the St Vincent's Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic in Sydney, Australia on July 1, 2021 . (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

With Greater Sydney and its surroundings enduring the fourth week in lockdown, vaccine hesitancy rates in NSW are at 14.6 per cent.

That has more than halved since late May and the authors of the report cite a sole reason.

“The outbreaks are clearly changing some people’s minds about getting vaccinated, especially in NSW,” said the report, published on Wednesday by the leading economic and social policy research institution.

But 11.8 per cent of the 1200 Australian adults surveyed are still refusing to get a coronavirus jab, while 9.7 per cent remain unsure which is down from 15 per cent at the end of May.

The report said the latter group is most likely to be affected by changes in medical policy, with the nation’s expert panel on immunisation last week revising its advice to recommend Sydneysiders “strongly consider” receiving the AstraZeneca shot in response to the worsening outbreak.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 07: Nurse Emeldah Mufara administers the AstraZeneca vaccine to Margaret Donnellan at the Sydney West COVID Vaccine Centre on May 07, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. People over 50 are now eligible to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine across Australia after the federal government brought forward the start of the 2a phase of Australia's vaccine rollout to begin from Monday 3 May. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

“Policies to reduce vaccine hesitancy need to be carefully targeted at populations most vulnerable and most likely to transmit the virus, as well as geographic areas with the lowest vaccination rates,” the University of Melbourne-based institute said.

Further, there are very high rates of vaccine hesitancy still among those aged 18 to 44 (28.8 per cent) and Queenslanders (30.9 per cent).

VACCINE HESITANCY BY STATE

* NSW - 14.6 per cent, down from 32.9 at the end of May

* Victoria - 23.88 per cent, down from 32.12

* Queensland - 30.83 per cent, down from 38.69

* South Australia - 23.91 per cent, down from 30.85

* Western Australia - 21.38 per cent, down from 29.01

* Other - 11.04 per cent, down from 22.86