The majority of the region's Indigenous population remains un-vaccinated despite being a priority in the federal government's initial rollout plan.
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Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service clinical manager Lauren Blatchford said it was disappointing so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people in the region remain unvaccinated.
"The government needs to do more, particularly with allocation of vaccination and access to vaccination," she said.
"They need to make it a lot easier to access, whether that's providing transport to vaccination centres for example, and they need to do more with regards to workplace management within the healthcare sector, to make sure we have enough staff to provide vaccinations."
In January 2021 when the Commonwealth's vaccination rollout plan, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over 55 would be prioritised in phase 1B of the scheme while all Indigenous Australians over 18 would have access to the vaccine in phase 2A.
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Despite this, data released by the Commonwealth government shows only 20 per cent of the Riverina's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population have been fully vaccinated and just 41 per cent have received one dose of COVID-19.
In the Murray region, 37 per cent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population have received one dose of the vaccine and only 19 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Across the border in Hume, 65 per cent of the Indigenous population have received one vaccine and 35 per cent are fully vaccinated.
More broadly, 35 per cent of the Riverina population is fully vaccinated, 34 per cent of the Murray community and 38 per cent of people in Hume.
Mrs Blatchford believes strong messaging from the government in the early stages of the rollout could have resulted in more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people getting the jab.
"There was a lot of vaccination hesitancy at the very start which locally we addressed within the community," she said. "But I think if the government could have done more work in that area to tackle it head-on rather than leaving it to later and we would have had a bigger increase in vaccination statistics in the local community."
Mrs Blatchford said it was vital Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people were vaccinated as the community was more prone to more chronic diseases including respiratory and breathing troubles compared to the non-Indigenous population.
Mrs Blatchford said vaccination was progressing well in the region but there was still a long way to go. AWAHS is opening a Saturday vaccination clinic starting September 18.
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