Less than half of the age group have received their first dose, but misinformation is not the only barrier, vaccine expert says

Australia’s plateauing Covid-19 vaccination rates among 5-to-11-year-olds will be discussed at a round table of federal and state government representatives and public health experts on Friday.

The round table is being convened by vaccine uptake expert Prof Julie Leask, with less than 50% of Australia’s 5-to-11-year-olds having received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose.

“I’m bringing together a group of people to present data to government, and governments will also have the chance to present some of their data in a closed session to get to the bottom of these vaccination rates and to see what sort of barriers there are for parents and caregivers,” Leask, who works with the University of Sydney’s Institute of Infectious Diseases, said.

Related: Supply and delivery issues stalling Covid vaccine rollout for children 5-11, Australian GPs say

“We already have gaps in coverage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal 5-to-11-year-olds, and we’re likely to see gaps in other demographics as well. I suggested we pull all of our data together before we jump to broader assumptions about what is going on with the 5-to-11-year-olds.”

Just 0.59% of 5-11-year-olds have been double dosed, although vaccination appointments for children only became available in January. Some parents reported initially struggling to find an appointment, or that their appointment was cancelled due to supply issues. The recommended interval for most children is eight weeks.

On Monday Royal Australian College of General Practitioners [RACGP] vice-president, Dr Bruce Willett, said there was a need for improved vaccine education for parents, citing a Flinders University study which found vaccine anxiety is driving parents to seek information from sources where misinformation is rife, including social media.

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“While we have high childhood vaccination rates in Australia, with 95% of five-year-olds having received all scheduled childhood immunisations, vaccine hesitancy remains a serious threat to our community,” Willett said.

“This is a concern because we know young children mixing at childcare and socially has been a key driver of [Covid-19] infections.

“And while the research shows most children have only mild symptoms, they can spread the virus to family members who are more vulnerable and at-risk of severe symptoms, like grandparents.”

But Leask said it is too simplistic to say the slow uptake is due to the spread of vaccine misinformation or even complacency, a word she dislikes because it implies parents are not prioritising their child’s health.

“Parents may have other pressing issues they are juggling, poor access to vaccines may be an issue, and if you’re a working single parent with a large family it can also be tricky to get to a vaccine appointment.”

A small vaccine sentiment survey, conducted for the federal government in January, found 76% of parents of 5-to-11-year-olds already had, or intended to, get their child vaccinated, while 15% were unsure, and 10% said they did not plan to get their child vaccinated.

Leask said this indicated that many parents yet to get their 5-to-11-year-olds vaccinated perhaps just needed a reminder, or for vaccination to be made easier and more accessible. States and territories could consider placing vaccination hubs in primary schools in future to address accessibility issues, she said, as opposed to the more temporary pop-up hubs that are already being used.

Related: Australian children facing ‘generation-defining disruption’ due to pandemic, experts say

“We need to think about priorities and where we put our public health efforts,” Leask said. “It may be that some states want to focus on getting boosters to older people first. But there are other ways to increase rates in children, for example sending text message reminders to parents, and bringing vaccine services into communities.”

Other parents may be waiting until their child recovered from Covid before vaccinating them, she said.

“While the plateauing among 5-to-11-year-olds is concerning, and we need to do something about that, to put all of these possible barriers down to misinformation does not fully represent the challenges we face with any new vaccination program. Going from zero to 50% uptake in a short period with any new vaccine is actually quite an achievement.”

Guardian Australia has contacted the office of the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, for comment.