NSW North Coast Has Lowest Childhood Immunisation Rates In Australia, Finds New Study By Supplemento
Analysis of 3 cohorts of children (aged 1, 2 and 5) reveals that the NSW North Coast has the lowest childhood vaccination rates in Australia, averaging less than 90% for all age groups.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – 14 FEBRUARY 2024: NSW North Coast region has lowest childhood immunisation rates in Australia, according to a new study by Supplemento.
The analysis also found that the Gold Coast region has the second lowest immunisation rates overall, with rates not far off those in the NSW North Coast.
Complete Results: https://supplemento.com.au/
This analysis involved Supplemento analysing data from the Australian Immunisation Register, as administered by the Department of Health & Aged Care. Factors such as location, age and immunisation type were analysed.
Lowest immunisation rates: The North Coast region in NSW had the lowest overall vaccination rates of any region in Australia, across 1 year olds (88.64%), 2 year olds (86.78%) and 5 year olds (89.24%). They were the only region to have sub 90% vaccination rates for all age groups.
Second lowest immunisation rates: The Gold Coast had the second lowest immunisation rates overall. Full immunisation rates across the studied age groups were 89.97% for 1 year olds, 87.89% for 2 year olds and 90.96% for 5 year olds.
Highest immunisation rates: Western NSW has the highest full vaccination rates across the age groups. They have achieved full vaccination rates across the studied age groups of 95.75% for 1 year olds, 94.19% for 2 year olds and 96.40% for 5 year olds
Non-fully vaccinated rates: In the ACT, the non-fully vaccinated rate is just 3.75%, whereas in the NSW North Coast it is 11.36%, more than triple the ACT rate.
Most unvaccinated cohort: Of all age groups and all regions analysed in this study, 2 year olds in the NSW North Coast are the most unvaccinated in the country. They have a fully vaccinated rate of just 86.78%.
Immunisation rate trend: Across Australia childhood immunisation rates hit their peak in 2020, and have been in decline ever since. For the 3 age groups examined in this study, the average fully vaccinated rate was 94.16% in 2020, but fell to 94.06% in 2021, and then 93.33% in 2022.
Impact of vaccine type – 1 year olds: For 1 year olds, the Hib vaccine (responsible for preventing pnemonia and meningicoccal) has the lowest uptake, at an average of 93.55%. Conversely, the pneumococcal vaccine has the highest uptake, at 95.40%.
Impact of vaccine type – 2 year olds: For 2 year olds, the lowest uptake amongst all immunisations was the DTP (diptheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, with just a 92.30% immunisation rate. The Hepatitis B vaccine, on the other hand, showed good uptake, at 96.07%. This was closely followed by the polio vaccine, with 96.06%.
Impact of vaccine type – 5 year olds: Amongst 5 year olds, vaccination rates are generally good. The DTP and polio vaccines have uptake rates of 94.27% and 94.24%, respectively.
“The immunisation rates amongst the 31 regions analysed in this study shows stark discrepancies. The gap between the regions with the highest and lowest fully vaccinated rates continues to widen. In terms of performance across the nation, whilst we have seen immunisation rates improve markedly in recent decades, the rates appear to have peaked in 2020, and have been in decline since,” Supplemento founder Louis Fredheim said.
