Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Health Promot J Austr. 2023 Oct;34(4):895-902. doi: 10.1002/hpja.691. Epub 2023 Jan 11.
COVID-19 vaccination is the cornerstone of managing Australia's COVID-19 pandemic and the success of the vaccination program depends on high vaccination coverage. This paper examined differences in COVID-19 vaccination coverage and vaccine hesitancy for people with disability, long-term health conditions, and carers - subgroups that were prioritised in Australia's vaccination program.
Using data from 2400 Australians who participated in two waves of the Taking the Pulse of the Nation survey in April and May 2021, we described vaccination coverage and hesitancy among people with disability, severe mental health conditions, severe long-term health conditions, frequent need for assistance with everyday activities, and carers.
Vaccination coverage was estimated to be 8.2% in the population overall and was similar for people with disability, those with frequent need for assistance, and carers. It was higher for people with severe long-term health conditions (13.4%) and lower for people with severe mental health conditions (4.3%). Vaccine hesitancy was high overall (35.6%) and was similarly high across the priority groups, with only small differences for people with disability, severe long-term health conditions and frequent need for assistance.
This study highlights a lack of difference in vaccination coverage for people with disability, long-term health conditions, and carers compared to the general population. So what? Sub-optimal vaccination coverage for people in the priority groups leaves many people at significant risk of serious disease or death if exposed to COVID-19, particularly in light of easing of disease-control restrictions across Australia and the emergence of new variants.
COVID-19 疫苗接种是管理澳大利亚 COVID-19 大流行的基石，疫苗接种计划的成功取决于高疫苗接种率。本文研究了残疾、长期健康状况和照顾者等在澳大利亚疫苗接种计划中被优先考虑的人群的 COVID-19 疫苗接种率和疫苗犹豫情况的差异。
使用了 2400 名澳大利亚人在 2021 年 4 月和 5 月参加的两次“国家脉搏调查”的调查数据，我们描述了残疾、严重精神健康状况、严重长期健康状况、日常活动频繁需要帮助和照顾者人群的疫苗接种率和犹豫情况。
总体人群的疫苗接种率估计为 8.2%，残疾、频繁需要帮助和照顾者的疫苗接种率相似。严重长期健康状况者（13.4%）的疫苗接种率较高，严重精神健康状况者（4.3%）的疫苗接种率较低。疫苗犹豫率总体较高（35.6%），在优先群体中也同样较高，只有残疾、严重长期健康状况和频繁需要帮助的人群之间存在较小差异。
这项研究强调了残疾、长期健康状况和照顾者的疫苗接种率与一般人群相比没有差异。这意味着什么？如果接触 COVID-19，优先群体中的人群的疫苗接种率不理想，许多人面临严重疾病或死亡的巨大风险，特别是考虑到澳大利亚各地疾病控制限制的放宽和新变种的出现。
