Why Victorian GPs are giving less than half the COVID jabs their NSW counterparts are

Victorian doctors are giving less than half as many COVID-19 doses as their NSW counterparts.

Based on current daily vaccination rates, 70 per cent of Victorian adults will be fully vaccinated against the virus by November 21.

NSW is expected to reach that threshold more than two weeks earlier — on November 5.

Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Roderick McRae, says the difference largely comes down to lower demand in Victoria, where COVID-19 cases are far lower than they are in NSW.

“General practitioners are ready and available to provide the vaccination, but they’re not going to leap out onto the street and grab somebody walking past and give them the jab,” he told Ross and Russel.

In the past week, Victorian GPs have administered 172,405 vaccine doses, compared to 398,940 doses given by NSW GPs.

Dr McRae says consultations with under 40s asking for the AstraZeneca vaccine are “not simple”, and many younger Victorians don’t have a regular GP.

Now that the need for under 40s to see their doctor before getting jabbed at some state-run facility has been lifted, the number of vaccines given at Victorian state vaccination hubs has received a boost.

On current vaccination rates, Victoria will reach the 80 per cent fully-vaccinated target on December 13, slower than NSW, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

Press PLAY below to hear what Dr McRae had to say about vaccination