Tasmania's chief medical officer is warning that COVID-19 outbreaks will occur in the suburbs where pockets of unvaccinated people live, and is calling on the vaccinated to "find a friend" and encourage them to get the jab.
Public Health chief medical officer Mark Veitch named Launceston's Invermay and surrounding suburbs, Devonport and Burnie, and their surrounding areas including Latrobe, as having up to 2000 people unvaccinated.
Health secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said there is more than 13,000 people aged 40 years and over who remain unvaccinated.
She said large pockets in the 20 to 24 age group and the 12 to 15 age group have also not had their first dose.
Dr Veitch is turning to friends and family to help get unvaccinated people across the line.
"I just want to draw attention to a number of places in Tasmania where the coverage is lower and there are large numbers of unvaccinated adults and teenagers ... those places have 1000 or so, sometimes close to 2000 people, in those relatively small areas who haven't had their first dose yet.
"They are the people most at risk, that is where the outbreaks will happen when coronavirus is introduced into Tasmania...it is tremendously important that people in those areas understand that risk."
Dr Veitch called on the vaccinated to "find a friend who hasn't had the vaccine".
"There will be a few of them around. Talk to them about what information you have found and used to make your decision to get vaccinated. Talk to them about your experience with the vaccine, and I hope, encourage them to get the vaccine," he said.
"You may want to provide some practical help to get a booking, identify where there is a doctor, pharmacy or state clinic in those neighbourhoods, you may want to go with them to get the vaccine, and afterwards you might want to go and get a coffee or a beer.
"Encourage people from those areas to get across the line and understand the merits of vaccination for themselves, their families and their community."
