Tasmania has one of the world's highest vaccination rates, but many young children are still unvaccinated. So, why has progress stalled? And what could the ramifications be for the rest of the population?
It's mostly primary and secondary school children who make up the infections, Public Health Director Mark Veitch on Friday said."The highest age-specific rate of infection is in primary school children and secondary school children.The new Omicron sub-variant BA.2 has brought a new urgency to get vaccinated, authorities say.Public Health considers it an outbreak if five or more students in a class have tested positive for the virus.
"We've seen a slow rise [in cases] after schools have opened, and it's been slower to subside," he said.Deakin University chair in epidemiology Catherine Bennett said the new Omicron sub-variant BA.2, and higher testing rates among children were likely contributing to the increase in Tasmania's case numbers.
"Whereas that's not true for adults, particularly if they're vaccinated. If they don't have symptoms, they're not testing, and we just don't know how many infections there are."While Tasmania generally has a very high vaccination rate of 97 per cent, the efforts of the five-to-11 age group are lagging behind.The state's health department says that's still 11 per cent above the national average, but it wants to "see that figure continue to rise".
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