For Elias*, convincing his Lebanese parents to get vaccinated wasn’t a one-off conversation but an “ongoing” dialogue.
“It was just kind of like explaining to them about the pros and the cons,” Elias told The Feed.
“Keeping that discussion going is important - you can't expect people are just going to get it straight away the first time.”
Elias said his parents, who live in Liverpool in Western Sydney, had concerns about the rare risk of blood clotting associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Initially, Elias’ dad was putting off getting vaccinated in hopes he’d access an elusive Pfizer jab.
But when Elias’ sister got vaccinated, his parents became more comfortable with the idea and now they’ve both received two jabs each.
Elias’ dad got AstraZeneca and his mother, who has a respiratory problem, received the Pfizer vaccine.
“They’re part of an older generation as well so they're a lot more sceptical,” Elias said.
“Culturally, as well, it's harder for them to go forward with things.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Source: Getty Images
A regional breakdown of vaccination rates by the Federal Government this week revealed South West Sydney has the lowest vaccination rates in Sydney, with 14.6 per cent of people over 15 fully vaccinated. Nearby in Parramatta, 17.7 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated. In Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, the figure is 23.9 per cent.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced earlier this month that there would be an in South West and Western Sydney to manage higher case numbers in the area.
“There's been a lot of people who feel mistreated by the government and the police force in how South Sydney has been kind of targeted,” Elias said.
“With vaccines, it all comes down to trust in the government and safety.”
‘It’s difficult’: Getting vaccinated with language barriers
At Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Alexander spoke with The Feed over the phone as he waited for his 80-year-old grandmother to get vaccinated.
“I took the day off to take her to the vaccination clinic,” Alexander said.
“My dad was like, ‘I know you have work, just drop her off and she'll figure it out’,” he said.
“Thank god I didn't do that because it is a maze of getting here, waiting and figuring out where to go and everything.”
Australian Defence Force personnel and NSW police load emergency food parcels for people in lockdown in the south west of Sydney, Monday, August 2, 2021. Source: AAP/Mick Tsikas
It was a team effort by Alexander, his brother and his mother that led to this moment.
Alexander’s grandmother Jin is a Chinese migrant who does not speak English. During Sydney’s lockdown, she’s relied heavily on her family to translate the health advice and keep her across the changing restrictions.
“We just basically just told her vaccinations are good, you're eligible for one. This is what's going to happen,” Alexander said.
“Then she was like ‘yeah, let's do it because I want to be safe’. It was very straightforward.”
Both Alexander, 30, and Elias, 23, have booked in for vaccinations in the coming weeks.
Knowing their older relatives have been vaccinated has given both of them peace of mind that their family members are now safer against the deadly Delta strain.
“It’s definitely less scary because we don't want our parents to get sick,” Elias said.
“Knowing that my family will take the jab willingly and they don't have any massive qualms about it is reassuring,” Alexander added.
Elias told The Feed he would just like to see a bigger campaign in the hotspot areas of South West and Western Sydney to promote the vaccine.
“They could reach out to the community and talk over the phone,” Elias said.
“Especially in Western Sydney, where people have backgrounds. They need to have direct conversations, one-to-one, where they can ask 101 different questions,’ he added.
“When GPs are saying a different thing, the media is saying a different thing, and you add a language barrier on top of that and it gets even harder.”
A spokesperson told The Feed that NSW Health is working closely with multicultural groups “to ensure culturally and linguistically diverse community members understand the public health advice.”
The NSW Health spokesperson said this communications campaign has included engaging with religious and community leaders, outreach work by local health districts to ensure bilingual staff are present at COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics and translated resources in almost 60 languages.
The spokesperson added the campaign has also involved online forums “with 2,500 leading representatives of religious and community groups and bodies, online videos in multiple languages [and]… increased presence on multicultural community radio, print and online channels.”
“Interpreters are free and available when requested by those visiting testing clinics and hospitals,” the spokesperson said.
*Name has been changed
SBS has partnered with NSW Health to provide live translations of daily NSW COVID press conferences in Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Assyrian. You can access those live translations at , , and Facebook pages, as well as SBS Radio.
