Flu cases in the ACT have jumped this year as doctors talk of "vaccine fatigue".
So far in 2024, there have been 4708 cases in the territory compared with 4105 for the whole of 2023. In the year before the pandemic - 2019 - there were 4044 flu cases in the ACT.
The numbers fell during COVID, largely because lockdowns prevented people from infecting each other.
But they've risen dramatically in the two years since. "There is an element of 'vaccine fatigue'," the Immunisation Coalition, which promotes vaccinations, said.
The independent, not-for-profit organisation made up of doctors and other experts fears that a reluctance to get vaccinated will rise.
Its figures show that in the ACT, more than half of people said that they felt "that the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced their likelihood of getting vaccinated against influenza".
Rather than convincing the public that vaccinations were a good protection against infectious diseases, some people concluded the opposite.
"Misinformation" and "mistrust" were factors in putting people off vaccinations, according to expert on viruses Gary Grohmann, who is based in Canberra and who advises the World Health Organisation.
"What happened is that people lost a bit of faith in vaccinations," Dr Drohmann said.
Some had come to believe that flu, for example, was not that serious a disease. This, Dr Grohmann said, was a false view.
"We have more deaths from flu than we did from COVID," he said.
Having said all that, vaccination rates in the ACT are still better than those in other jurisdictions. For children between six months and five years, for example, the figures show that just under half get vaccinated - but that proportion is still much higher a proportion than the next state, which is Victoria (where only 30 per cent of children were vaccinated).
The Immunisation Coalition surveyed 25,000 people across the country.
Of them, "only 54 per cent felt that influenza is a serious disease, 55 per cent did not see vaccination as a benefit or being important and next year vaccination rates are expected to fall further to just 29 per cent of the population.
"Many are confused about when to get vaccinated, with 54 per cent believing that May or June is the ideal time, despite official recommendations to vaccinate earlier."
GPs and nurses said that public attitudes towards flu had changed since COVID. They felt that "the pandemic has caused vaccine fatigue, hesitancy and disengagement".
The Immunisation Coalition thinks the federal government and the states and territories should do more to spread the message that vaccination saves lives, and that vaccination needs to start early in life.
"While vaccination programs are complex and complicated, emphasis should be placed on public awareness campaigns with clear and consistent messaging on protection strategies, e.g. mask wearing, washing of hands, and vaccination," the Coalition said.
"Announcing free vaccination programs is welcomed, but the public needs to understand the harm infectious diseases like influenza cause, and what are the options to reduce individual infection risk. In short, there seems insufficient buy-in from the general public and this sentiment is growing."
"The downward trend in vaccination rates may easily spread to other infectious diseases. For children under five years, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis b, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease, MMR, meningococcal ACWY and others, all have a vaccination rate of around 95 per cent. But this too, is starting to decline and needs to be addressed urgently."
