Reopen regional areas only by 80pc vax rates: rural doctors

The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) has instead insisted that a staggered reopening to regional areas by each Local Government Area (LGA) occur, as some may not have climbed to the 80 per cent double vax rate when the state is officially reopened.

The reopening of greater Sydney to regional NSW is expected to occur in late October. Greater Sydney will be reopened within its own borders on October 11.

Only on Thursday, 19 more NSW regional LGAs were plunged back into lockdown because of COVID-19 cases in their area. Some others including Kyogle were released from lockdown.

Some regional LGAs are not even close to the same double vax rates in areas of Greater Sydney. As of Friday, NSW Health said across NSW, 87.2 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 64 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Some regional LGAs lagging behind other LGAs include Albury, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Inverell, Kempsey, Moree, Richmond Valley and Tamworth-Gunnedah (some of these in their high 40pc, lower 50pc double vax rates).

RDAA President-Elect, Dr Megan Belot, said that starting to open at 70 per cent, but still protecting rural and regional areas that may have lower vaccination rates, was on the right track.

"We are pleased to see the roadmap, as announced by Premier Berejiklian, was adjusted in an effort to protect regional areas until December," Dr Belot said.

"We reiterate our request that opening regional areas up for unregulated travel be based LGA by LGA, as they each reach the same vaccination target as Sydney Metro.

"Some rural areas continue to lag behind the larger centres. This is for several reasons... some being vaccine hesitancy, but the larger issue being the delayed access to vaccination.

"In areas where it is difficult to get an appointment at a GP clinic, in towns with limited health services or homes that are long distances from their nearest health care provider, people still may have not been able to access a vaccine.

"Others have not been able to get access to their recommended vaccine earlier, due to the slow rollout into GP clinics. This has particularly affected rural areas," Dr Belot said.

"We appreciate NSW delaying regional travel until the state reaches an average of 80 per cent, but the population disparity means that the average does not necessarily equate to 80 per cent in rural at the same time.

"RDAA believes that an LGA-based approach would be in the best interests of rural communities, and minimise the risk to the health services and providers based in them.

"The Delta variant has shown us that it will find any pocket of the community left vulnerable. Until we can be assured that every person who is eligible for a vaccine has access to one, these people need to be protected.

"However, regional Australia cannot be locked up forever.

"We need a nation-wide plan to reopen, and every state needs to get on board with allowing crossborder travel, regional travel, and a plan to allow all Australians to be able to reconnect with distant family or friends, and for businesses reliant on travel, tourism or other affected areas of the economy, to have some light at the end of a long, long COVID tunnel.

"Don't continue to let rural areas lag behind. Speed up the rollout and target areas of low vaccination rates to ensure that regional, rural and remote areas aren't left hanging while the metro areas are brought up to target."