Regional Victorian GPs say they are battling "a significant problem" with vaccine hesitancy, as COVID-19 misinformation continues to spread.
Yarrawonga Medical Clinic owner Clyde Ronan said more and more patients were no-shows for vaccination bookings due to false ideas circulating in the community.
"Everybody seems to be an expert at the moment," Dr Ronan said.
Dr Ronan urged his community to listen to facts from epidemiologists.
"Otherwise, you get people speaking outside of their expertise. You get people with no expertise at all, and they've all got an opinion," he said.
"As a result, we've now got a significant problem with vaccine hesitancy."
People not making informed decisions
Dr Ronan said he had seen an increase in people requesting the Pfizer vaccine over AstraZeneca.
"There are relative advantages and disadvantages, but they are both excellent vaccines and they work well," he said.
"The smoke and mirrors campaign comes in when people try to compare them."
Dr Ronan said he believed non-medical voices were leading patients to be afraid of a "one-in-a-million" blood clotting event from AstraZeneca.
"About five times as many people have died in this recent outbreak than have died in Australia from the AZ vaccine over the past year," he said.
Hesitancy must end for region's safety
In addition to misinformation, Dr Ronan said, sporadic vaccine supplies to the regions was increasing confusion.
"We give AZ and Pfizer here and they turn us on and off like a tap," he said.
Figures recently released by the federal government showed that Bendigo was currently leading the regions — and the entire state of Victoria — in vaccination rates.
As at August 1, 52.6 per cent of people aged 15 and over had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the regional centre. More than 25 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
Other regions are not far behind.
Dr Ronan said higher vaccination rates were crucial if the regions were to enjoy a future free from lockdowns.
"We do have a lot of vaccines. They might not be in the right places, they might not be the right type to satisfy people's personal preferences," he said.
