COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities
The NSW Government has proposed a blanket lifting of COVID‐19 restrictions when the proportion of fully vaccinated people rate reaches 70% of the adult population. If implemented, this would have devastating effects on Aboriginal populations. At the present time, vaccination rates in Aboriginal comm...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653309/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34636469 https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:8653309 2023-05-15T16:15:55+02:00 COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities Komesaroff, Paul A. Ah Chee, Donna Boffa, John Kerridge, Ian Tilton, Edward 2021-11-18 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653309/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34636469 https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 en eng John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653309/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34636469 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 © 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians. This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency. Intern Med J Current Controversies Text 2021 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 2021-12-12T01:51:49Z The NSW Government has proposed a blanket lifting of COVID‐19 restrictions when the proportion of fully vaccinated people rate reaches 70% of the adult population. If implemented, this would have devastating effects on Aboriginal populations. At the present time, vaccination rates in Aboriginal communities remain low. Once restrictions are lifted, unvaccinated people will be at high risk of infection. The risks of serious illness and death among Aboriginal people from a variety of medical conditions are significantly greater than for the wider population. This is also the case with COVID‐19 in First Nations populations around the world. The vulnerability of Aboriginal people is an enduring consequence of colonialism and is exacerbated by the fact that many live in overcrowded and poorly maintained houses in communities with under‐resourced health services. A current workforce crisis and the demographic structure of the population have further hindered the effectiveness of vaccination programmes. Aboriginal organisations have called on state and federal governments to delay any substantial easing of restrictions until full vaccination rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations aged 16 years and older reach 90–95%. They have also called for additional support in the form of supply of vaccines, enhancement of workforce capacity and appropriate incentives to address hesitancy. Australia remains burdened by the legacy of centuries of harm and damage to its First Nations people. Urgent steps must be taken to avoid a renewed assault on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Text First Nations PubMed Central (PMC) Internal Medicine Journal 51 11 1806 1809 |
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Current Controversies Komesaroff, Paul A. Ah Chee, Donna Boffa, John Kerridge, Ian Tilton, Edward COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
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Current Controversies |
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The NSW Government has proposed a blanket lifting of COVID‐19 restrictions when the proportion of fully vaccinated people rate reaches 70% of the adult population. If implemented, this would have devastating effects on Aboriginal populations. At the present time, vaccination rates in Aboriginal communities remain low. Once restrictions are lifted, unvaccinated people will be at high risk of infection. The risks of serious illness and death among Aboriginal people from a variety of medical conditions are significantly greater than for the wider population. This is also the case with COVID‐19 in First Nations populations around the world. The vulnerability of Aboriginal people is an enduring consequence of colonialism and is exacerbated by the fact that many live in overcrowded and poorly maintained houses in communities with under‐resourced health services. A current workforce crisis and the demographic structure of the population have further hindered the effectiveness of vaccination programmes. Aboriginal organisations have called on state and federal governments to delay any substantial easing of restrictions until full vaccination rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations aged 16 years and older reach 90–95%. They have also called for additional support in the form of supply of vaccines, enhancement of workforce capacity and appropriate incentives to address hesitancy. Australia remains burdened by the legacy of centuries of harm and damage to its First Nations people. Urgent steps must be taken to avoid a renewed assault on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. |
format |
Text |
author |
Komesaroff, Paul A. Ah Chee, Donna Boffa, John Kerridge, Ian Tilton, Edward |
author_facet |
Komesaroff, Paul A. Ah Chee, Donna Boffa, John Kerridge, Ian Tilton, Edward |
author_sort |
Komesaroff, Paul A. |
title |
COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
title_short |
COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
title_full |
COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
title_fullStr |
COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
COVID‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for Aboriginal communities |
title_sort |
covid‐19 restrictions should only be lifted when it is safe to do so for aboriginal communities |
publisher |
John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653309/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34636469 https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Intern Med J |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653309/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34636469 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 |
op_rights |
© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians. This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15559 |
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Internal Medicine Journal |
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51 |
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11 |
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1806 |
op_container_end_page |
1809 |
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1766001790278434816 |