With 9.2 per cent of eligible residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Top End is leading the nation’s vaccine rollout, the NT health minister says.

June 17, 2021

The Northern Territory is leading the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout on a per capita basis with almost 10 per cent of residents fully inoculated.

More than 70,700 jabs have been given, including to 53,000 people who have had one vaccine and 17,000 people who are fully vaccinated.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles says the NT is leading Australia with its response to the pandemic.

“More than 28 per cent of (eligible) Territorians have now received at least one vaccine while 9.2 per cent of Territorians are fully vaccinated,” she said on Thursday.

“These are the best vaccination numbers in Australia compared with the national average of 3.2 per cent (fully vaccinated).”

Nationally, 6,235,395 doses have been given, according to the Australian Health Department on Wednesday.

Earlier in the month, the NT became the first Australian jurisdiction to make vaccinations available to all of its 246,500 residents aged 16 and over.

Ms Fyles said Territorians had been booking vaccination appointments in droves since the change was brought in on June 7.

Vaccination centres have been rolled out across Darwin and Alice Springs and in remote communities such as Borroloola, Jabiru, Daly River, Numbulwar, Pirlangimpi and Warruwi.

With more than 100 Aboriginal languages and dialects spoken in the territory, NT Health has also employed interpreter services, made education videos in language and engaged with community elders to ensure the rollout progresses.

The surge in demand has also led to one of Australia’s largest Indigenous medical groups, Danila Dilba Health Service, opening its Palmerston clinic on the weekends.

However, only the AstraZeneca vaccine will be available to eligible residents of the NT.

Meanwhile, concern over NT Health’s decision to ditch COVID-19 rapid antigen tests for Howard Springs medical staff continues among some nurses and epidemiologists.

Under Australia’s National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre and Australian Medical Assistance Teams (AUSMAT) management, workers were required to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and rapid antigen tests.

But NT Heath decided to use only PCR tests, which can take hours to return a result, triggering concerns staff could return to the community before receiving their results, increasing the risk of community transmission.

Rapid antigen test results are usually available within 15-30 minutes.

There have been no COVID-19 related deaths in the NT and just 175 confirmed cases.

Nationally, 30,291 cases have been recorded with 910 resulting in death.