Health Minister Greg Hunt has pointed to hesitancy among aged care residents as being behind low COVID-19 booster rates, with about one quarter of those eligible not having received a booster shot.
Mr Hunt has said some residents or their families are "making their own choice" not to get boosted, despite being offered the chance.
The latest data shows of the 170,000 aged care residents eligible for a booster dose, only 125,000 had received the third jab, leaving 45,000 (or 26 per cent) still unprotected.
There are also a further 20,000 who have either not received a first or second dose, exposing them to serious illness or death from COVID-19, as Omicron sweeps through the sector.
The health minister faced questions over the rollout of the program during a press conference on Thursday, issuing a plea for residents and families to consent to the booster shot.
“We are encouraging families and residents to take up the booster and to do this for themselves and help protect others,” he told reporters.
“We will continue to present the opportunity [and] information and make it clear Omicron, whilst less dangerous individually in terms of likelihood of outcome, can still take your life.”
The federal government has said they have visited 99 per cent of aged care facilities to administer booster doses, but intend to return to these facilities to administer more doses.
Mr Hunt had earlier defended the opportunity given to aged care residents to receive a booster dose.
"What we are seeing is that there are families or individuals who are making their own choice not to receive that," he told ABC radio.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said there were reasons why some people in aged care did not want protection against severe illness, but urged people to reconsider receiving a booster shot.
"The vaccine rollout is going back to each of those aged care [facilities] in the coming weeks to talk through that again and to provide, again, a chance for vaccination," he told reporters.
‘There will be more deaths’
The response comes amid a warning from Professor Kelly that there will be more deaths in aged care in the coming weeks.
“There will be more deaths in Australia,” he said.
“I do expect deaths in aged care and in the community over the next few weeks, particularly in elderly people.”
At least 471 residents have died in aged care so far this year, more than throughout the whole of 2021 when 282 people died.
Professor Kelly on Thursday announced a taskforce would be established to get more information about deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This came after health department officials faced questions over how many aged care deaths had received a booster shot during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, but were unable to provide this data.
“We will be setting up a specific task force in the department to look at that and do everything we can to get more detail about the issues, particularly in aged care but more broadly in the community,” Mr Albanese said.
The committee heard 89 per cent of aged care residents have had two vaccine doses so far in the rollout, but booster rates were just 66 per cent.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese attacked the response as a “non-announcement” that didn’t represent “serious action” from the government to address the sector's concerns.
“That is the data that is out there, what are they doing about the immediate crisis that is there?” he told reporters.
Mr Albanese also called for Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck to resign, after he told the Senate committee on Wednesday he did not believe
"If Richard Colbeck does not resign today the Prime Minister should sack him," he said.
Aged care providers have warned they’re struggling under the immense pressure caused by COVID-19 ripping through these facilities, including struggles to access rapid antigen tests (RATs).
The federal government has said eight million RATs have been delivered to these facilities, as well as supplies of personal protective equipment.
Mr Hunt said health authorities were also working to consider advice on how to maintain infection controls while ensuring residents don’t face ongoing issues with isolation.
“We are sorry for every single life lost, whether in aged care or elsewhere,” he said.
According to data released last Friday, COVID-19 outbreaks were active in 1,261 residential aged care facilities nationally, including 555 in NSW and 296 in Victoria.
Professor Kelly said medical authorities believe the current Omicron wave is reaching its peak with pressure easing on hospital systems.
But he has also told the Australian public that more waves of COVID-19 are inevitable.
“It will not be the last Omicron wave we will have and it will not be the last wave of COVID we will have,” he said.
“I do believe that we will have another wave of Omicron in winter.”
