State and Federal governments have expressed that the best way out of lockdowns in Australia is through the vaccine rollouts. In August 2021, 45.4% of Australians aged 16 years and older had received at least one dose of a vaccine and 23.7% were fully vaccinated. Australians were surveyed in August 2021 to assess their level of vaccine hesitancy, which was at its lowest level since August 2020. 9 in 10 Australians were either vaccinated or expressed that they would either probably or definitely get a vaccination. Groups that had lower rates of vaccine update include people with low levels of education, people who spoke a language other than English and those who had low household income. Australians who don’t think they will get infected with COVID-19 and Australians who experienced psychological distress in April 2021 were also less likely to be vaccinated.
9 in 10 Australians have now been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have expressed a willingness to receive their jab.
Less than 15% (14.6%) of unvaccinated Australians will either probably not (8.5%) or definitely not (6.1%) get vaccinated in the future.
Three quarters (72.5%) of Australians who expressed Vaccine willingness in April 2021 had received their jabs by August 2021. 16.8% of Australians who said they definitely wouldn’t get vaccinated in April 2021, had been vaccinated by August 2021.
50% of unvaccinated Australians in August 2021 expressed they were moderately (21.5%) or very (28.5%) concerned about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Around 1 in 10 (13.1%) of unvaccinated Australians were not concerned at all about the side effects.