Health authorities on both side of the Border have long been saying vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19 and vaccination rates across the region have gradually been climbing higher.
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Australia is transitioning to a 'living with the virus' approach and restrictions are easing for the double dosed.
But as some people step forward for their third vaccination, the booster shot, a small group of people in the community are still hesitant to get their first vaccination or are choosing not to get vaccinated at all.
As this has ramifications for the health of the broader community, The Border Mail asked the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and Albury Wodonga Health what its plans were to convince the remaining eligible population to come forward for the jab.
MLHD chief executive Jill Ludford said the organisation needed to be innovative to mop up the roughly 15 per cent of people who hadn't been fully vaccinated.
"There are two groups, those who are declining to be vaccinated and those who are hesitant and still holding off," she said.
"So it's the hesitant group that we really need to make sure that we focus a target on."
Ms Ludford said MLHD needed to use opportunistic testing and vaccination.
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"When we reach out to some of our consumer groups, so as we're caring for people with mental illness or disability, if they haven't been vaccinated, or patients in hospital, let's have that conversation with the doctor, the nurses, and offer it then and there," she said.
"They don't have to then make that step of coming forward to a public clinic.
"So opportunistically taking that vaccination to people on a one to one level will really help with those hesitant groups."
MS Ludford said Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service had done a great job at engaging with the community to encourage vaccination.
"[They] have done an absolutely magnificent job at taking the time to site down over a cup of tea, with Aboriginal people, with elders and just listening to what their concerns are and helping people to come to a decision based on fact," she said.
"Because there's so much out there on social media, that is really, really confusing."
Ms Ludford said one of the hesitant groups was pregnant women or women of child-bearing age.
"There's been so many scare campaigns that we've seen on social media," she said.
"But we actually know that getting vaccinated, if your thinking about getting pregnant or are in your pregnancy, it actually protects you and the baby, so we really need to target those particular areas."
When asked about anti-vaxers, Ms Ludford said that ultimately it was up to individuals to choose, but vaccine mandates in some settings may encourage those people to change their decision.
Albury Wodonga Health executive director of public health Lucie Shanahan encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, but said people could choose not to.
"I think everyone is well aware of the benefits of vaccination and there's been a long standing information available to people," she said.
"We stand up here multiple times a week and we do ask people to come forward for vaccination.
"We understand and it is everyone's personal choice around whether they choose to be vaccinated with single dose, double dose or not at all, whilst our preference is that people are double dosed and we are strongly encouraging everyone to come forward for double doses of the vaccine.
Ms Shanahan reinforced that vaccination was the best protection against COVID-19.
"It won't necessarily prevent you from catching COVID-19, but what it will do is minimise the severity of illness or the severity of symptoms," she said.
"Our goal here is to help reduce hospitalisation so we can continue to deliver the variety of health services that we deliver."
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