COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:11): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health a question about vaccination.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: It was recently revealed that our northern suburbs have the lowest vaccination rates and that one of the reasons for this is access, with Wayville being the biggest vaccination centre and nowhere near our northern suburbs. My question to the minister is:

1. Does he accept the view of the Transition Committee that access has been an impediment to vaccination for those people living in the northern suburbs?

2. Why has it taken so long to address this issue?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:12): First of all, could I specifically make it clear I am not validating the assertion; I think the honourable member said the Transition Committee said something about access in the north. I don't know what the honourable member is referring to.

The Hon. C. Bonaros: Transport. Access to vaccinations.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Okay. Well, let me just tell you something about what the government is doing in the northern suburbs in the context of vaccination. The government established the Playford mass vaccination clinic and has been delivering—on my understanding they have delivered more than 135,000 vaccinations through the Playford clinic. We have also, I think, probably—if memory serves me rightly it was the beginning of September we opened the Pooraka clinic, again to make it easier for people in the north to access a vaccination, and my understanding is there's more than 5,000 vaccinations that have been delivered out of the Pooraka site.

In terms of the response in the north, up until 22 October, 22 mobile clinics have been providing vaccinations, with a further 37 mobile clinics planned up until the end of next month. Of course, the northern suburbs feature in a program of school site vaccinations, and it was my privilege to attend the Roma Mitchell school, which is north of Gepps Cross, so I will call that northern suburbs, although some people might call that mid-north. In terms of the northern region—

The Hon. T.A. Franks: It's north-east or it's north; it's not mid-north.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Whatever; however you would like to describe it.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The point I am making is that it's not in the upper northern suburbs. In terms of the northern regions, 72 GPs are actively administering vaccinations, and 46 pharmacies. We are continuing to roll out new initiatives to support vaccination, and I was privileged to be at RM Williams on Monday for another launch of a mobile vaccination clinic. Watto Purrunna Aboriginal Health has a dedicated van and is vaccinating at Port Adelaide and other locations. This van will also be involved in a local cultural festival hosted by Sonder in mid-November.

We are continuing to increase access for vaccinations right across South Australia, and the northern area has been a particularly vigorous area of focus and will particularly be in the coming weeks. I think one of the really exciting opportunities that we have, by having set a date and set both an 80 per cent target and a 90 per cent target, is that for the next month there is a particular incentive for South Australians to get vaccinated because, as the Hon. Frank Pangallo highlighted in his question, now is the time to get vaccinated so that you can protect yourself, those you care about and the wider community.

Through the road map that has been put down, we are maintaining the pressure, if you like, or the incentive of 90. We are encouraging South Australians not to stop at 80. Let's go on to 90 and above. As of today, my understanding is that the ACT already has double-dose vaccinations of 89 per cent. I believe there is no reason why we should expect that South Australia would not do better. Our first-dose vaccination rate is above 90 per cent, and obviously if people have had the first you would expect that they are going to follow through and get the second.

I think that Australia is well placed to be one of the best-vaccinated communities in the world, and I am very keen that South Australia seizes the mantle of the state in Australia with the highest vaccination rate. The northern suburbs will be a key focus, particularly in the coming month, as we approach 23 November, but it won't stop there.