Vaccine rate for people with disability at about 50% in some regional areas, leaked data reveals

Double-dose vaccination rates among people with disability may be as low as 50% in some regional and remote local government areas, according to leaked federal Department of Health data.

It comes as new figures, which have not been released publicly but have been obtained by Guardian Australia, reveal 20% of the approximately 25,000 people living in disability group homes have received a booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine.

That cohort was initially included in phase 1a of the vaccine rollout along with the aged care sector but then “de-prioritised”, according to a royal commission report.

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The leaked health department document, obtained by Guardian Australia and marked “committee in confidence”, outlines jab rates by local government area among the 300,000 national disability insurance scheme participants (NDIS) eligible for the jab and 750,000 disability support pension recipients.

It also provides the first insight into vaccination rates by disability, confirming people with intellectual disability, psychosocial disability and autism were less likely to be vaccinated at the time the figures were extracted on 5 December.

Nationally, the latest figures from 9 January show 83.4% of all national disability insurance scheme participants had been double-dose vaccinated. However, the leaked document indicates that while vaccination rates are very high in New South Wales and Victoria, the Department of Health has identified several local government areas of concern where rates among NDIS participants and disability pensioners are much lower.

Double-dose rates will have improved since the data was collated but how much is unclear.

The data is particularly stark in Queensland, where Covid cases have soared in recent weeks, and Western Australia, which has embraced a fortress approach to border policy that has so far kept cases low. The WA border is slated to open on 5 February, a move that will likely usher in significant community transmission.

The health department document outlines dozens of local government areas where vaccine rates among people with disability (PWD) are a concern. Local government areas with NDIS vaccination rates below 60% at 5 December included:

• Mount Isa, Queensland, 55% double-dosed, NDIS population: 129

• Karratha, WA, 55.2%, NDIS population: 116

• Kalgoorlie, WA, 57.2%, NDIS population: 166

• Northam, WA, 58.7%, NDIS population: 104

• Gympie, Queensland, 59.3%, NDIS population: 725

Among disability support pensioners (DSP), some of whom will be on the NDIS, local government areas with rates below 60% at 5 December included:

• Port Hedland, WA, 34.6%, DSP population: 237

• Karratha, WA, 40.5%, DSP population: 195

• Carnarvon, WA, 45.7%, DSP population: 173

• Barkly, NT, 45.2%%, DSP population: 188

• Derby-West Kimberley, WA, 45.5%, DSP population: 121

• Kalgoorlie/Boulder, WA, 45.6%, DSP population: 518

• Broome, WA, 48%, DSP population: 467

• Wyndham-East Kimberley, WA, 51.3%, DSP population: 160

• Mount Isa, Queensland, 51.6%, DSP population: 347

• Waroona, WA, 53.8%, DSP population: 119

• Denmark, WA, 54.5%, DSP population: 200

• Northam, WA, 54.6%, DSP population: 388

• Cook, Queensland, 55%, DSP population: 131

• York, WA, 55.4%, DSP population: 121

• Gingin, WA, 55.6%, DSP population: 126

• Tablelands, Queensland, 55.7%, DSP population: 870

• Mareeba, Queensland, 56%, DSP population: 702

• Goyder, South Australia, 57.5%, DSP population: 219

• MacDonnell, NT, 58%, DSP population: 169

• Port Lincoln, SA, 58.2%, DSP population: 567

• Esperance, WA, 58.2%, DSP population: 328

• Byron, NSW, 58.3% double-dosed, DSP population: 1,264

• Perth, WA, 58.9%, DSP population: 545

• South Burnett, Queensland, 59.7%, DSP population: 2,262

The data suggests that despite priority access given to NDIS participants in group homes, and then people with disability more broadly, some individuals identified as vulnerable in the vaccine rollout have fallen through the cracks.

A source with knowledge of the data said it showed “people with disability are in trouble, especially in states with geographic and distance challenges, like Queensland and WA”.

“Lower vaccination rates in regional and remote Australia is also a concern for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, who are many times more likely to experience chronic disease or disability,” the source said.

“Regional Australia does not have health or other essential infrastructure to match that of the cities.”