Australian parents are concerned about vaccinating their children against Covid with one in five “definitely” or “probably” not taking their kids to get the jab, according to new research.
The Australian National University survey, released on Friday, found that overall Covid vaccine hesitancy had fallen from 17.1% who said they definitely would not or were unlikely to get vaccinated in April to 14.6% in August.
But it found there was a higher level of hesitancy for kids than in the general community.
The study found people who speak a language other than English at home and those with lower education levels were substantially less likely to be vaccinated, pointing to gaps in the vaccine rollout.
On Thursday Scott Morrison announced that by mid-October Australia would have enough vaccines for the entire eligible population aged 12 and over to have two doses – marking the point demand will be a greater problem than supply.
With record uptake fuelled by Delta outbreaks in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, vaccine communication experts have warned the rate will taper off as those unwilling to take vaccines make up a higher proportion of the remaining population.
After the vaccination program opened to children aged 12 to 15 in late August and the Queensland premier sparked a row over her comments about vaccinating those under 12, much of the focus had now turned to children.
The ANU survey of more than 3,000 adults found 42.5% of parents and carers would definitely get their children vaccinated once a safe and effective vaccine was made available to them, with a further 36.3% saying they were likely to do so.
However, 9.8% of parents and carers said they definitely would not get their children vaccinated, and a further 11.4% said they probably would not.
Despite health officials arguing Covid was less serious in children, Prof Nicholas Biddle from the ANU said that people had “been worried about long Covid among children who get the virus or the role of children in spreading the virus among households and in the community”.
“These findings show the vast majority of Australians are ready to make sure their children are protected from Covid as soon as vaccines are available to them,” he said.
The longitudinal survey, which has been running since April 2020, measured the actual take-up of vaccines among its participants.
It found that those who speak a language other than English at home were “significantly and substantially less likely to have been vaccinated than those who speak English only”.
“However, there are no significant differences in the likelihood of being vaccinated between those born in Australia and those born overseas, or between those born in a non-English-speaking country and those born in an English-speaking country,” Biddle said.
“This suggests that it is a language a person speaks rather than where they are born that determines the likelihood of being vaccinated.”
The vaccine rollout had been plagued by instances of poorly translated or out-of-date official communications in languages other than English, and the ANU study suggested this could be having an impact on vaccination rates.
The survey found vaccine hesitancy had fallen to an all-time low of 14.6%, down from heights in January 2021 of 21.7% who said they definitely or probably would not be vaccinated.
The current rate of hesitancy is made of up 6.1% of Australian adults who said they definitely would not be vaccinated and 8.5% who said that they probably would not.
In early August the Fair Work Ombudsman issued advice about employers’ power in some circumstances to direct their staff to be vaccinated. Several large employers including Qantas, SPC and Telstra had mandated vaccines or announced they were considering mandates.
From October several states including New South Wales and Victoria will offer extra freedoms to vaccinated citizens, but so far the federal government has rejected calls from the Labor opposition for incentives such as cash payments.
