Highlights
- Melbourne's northern and western suburbs with large migrant populations hit by Delta outbreak
- Community leaders demand beefed-up response from Victoria's health department
- 'Government working with Turkish, Arabic, Somali and South Sudanese communities to spread right information': Dr Ben Cowie
With the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreading at an unprecedented speed, Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs are living on the edge.
Home to large populations of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, these areas have become Delta variant hotspots just as they have become areas of deep concern for Victoria’s health department.
A large number of migrants from Turkey and the Middle East live in these parts of the Victorian capital.
In an interview on how the state is dealing with this challenge, Victoria’s Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie told SBS Turkish that the government has pumped in nearly half its vaccine stocks in Melbourne’s west and north already and will do more.
A crucial issue that has come to light in Melbourne’s sixth lockdown is community involvement in the fight against COVID-19.
Community leaders and health professionals published a warning letter this week, asking state and federal governments for more vaccines to be provided to the residents of the area.
Highlighting the Victorian government’s focus on involving the CALD communities in its fight against the virus, Dr Cowie says the government has been working with the Arabic, Turkish, Somali and South Sudanese communities in particular since February to ensure the right information goes where it is needed the most.
“The Victorian government has organised 190 community engagement events with CALD communities and faith groups to combat misinformation and vaccine hesitancy,” Dr Cowie tells SBS Turkish
COVID-19 test queue at the Broadmeadows Leisure Centre Source: SBS
He also flags his concerns about some of this misinformation entering Australia’s CALD communities from overseas.
“Certainly, vaccine hesitancy has been a concern throughout the year," Dr Cowie adds.
Some leaders of the CALD communities do report there is an increased level of hesitancy or concerns about misinformation, particularly coming from overseas, that may relate to some communities’ concerns
But he is quick to add that vaccine hesitancy is not his experience with migrant communities.
“But the opposite aspect is that we see every vaccination appointment snapped up as soon as we make it available. I am certainly not seeing a lot of hesitancy in the community at the moment. I am seeing great demand and enthusiasm for vaccination. And we need to meet that with doses,” he adds.
Dr Cowie also mentions vaccination sites set up in religious and community centres like an Islamic centre in Melbourne, Al Taqwa College in the west, a Greek Orthodox church and a Hindu temple.
He also dwells upon how the more impacted parts of the Victorian capital are being prioritised when it comes to vaccine distribution.
“A large proportion of supply in the state system goes to our colleagues at the Western Public Health Unit and the North East Public Health Unit to administer. It is absolutely true that more needs to be done. And we will be increasing the proportion of vaccination coming to the state system,” Dr Cowie said.
Dr Cowie also highlighted that a number of local government areas in Melbourne’s north and west are of prime concern to Victoria’s health officials.
We certainly know that several of the local government areas or suburbs in the north and west of Melbourne have a far greater amount of COVID infection at the moment
"The City of Hume, for example, City of Moreland, City of Wyndham. In fact, two-thirds of cases yesterday were in four local government areas in the north and in the west,” he elaborated.
Unlike Sydney’s west and southwest, vaccination rates are amongst the lowest in hotspot areas in Melbourne.
Dr Cowie says these rates need to be lifted in areas where most of Melbourne’s cases are present right now.
To do so, firstly more GPs need to take part in the vaccine campaign and more doses of vaccines need to arrive in Melbourne, Dr Cowrie says, stressing the importance of their role in this race against the virus.
“That involves working with GPs, working with our Commonwealth colleagues to ensure that more GPs come on board to provide vaccines to communities in the north and west … it’s absolutely urgent,” Dr Cowie adds.
Emphasising the efficacy of the vaccines, Dr Cowie says that not even one fully-vaccinated person is amongst the 113 currently hospitalised in Victoria due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 testing car queue at Roxburgh Park, Melbourne Source: SBS
I am not blaming them [unvaccinated patients in hospital]. Access, obviously, has been an issue for some, others hesitancy…
"But honestly, this is the way our community can protect some of the more vulnerable members of our society. And that is, just get as many people possible, vaccinated. It will protect our health system, it will get us back those freedoms that we all seek and all want to get back to,” he adds.
Access to the vaccine could be an issue for some, just as hesitancy could be for others. To address hesitancy, he encourages people to talk to their GP.
Dr Cowie also stressed upon the continuing importance of staying home as far as possible and following the now-familiar public health protocol like wearing a face mask, practising hand hygiene and staying socially-distanced if it becomes necessary to step out of the house.
