Bendigo region's vaccination rates above Australian average according to Department of Health statistics

According to the Department of Health, the Loddon-Elmore area has 97.56 per cent of fully vaccinated five-year-old children ahead of Campaspe (97.45), Bendigo (96.69), Macedon Ranges (96.88), Maryborough-Pyrenees (96.4) and Heathcote-Castlemaine (95.2).

Each area is well above the national average of 94.78 per cent while only Heathcote-Castlemaine is below the state average of 95.67 per cent.

Murray PHN central Victoria medical advisor Ewa Piejko said there were a number of factors helping keep the immunisation numbers up.

"We're up or above the average in our regions because of things like government policies and the no jab, no play (legislation) made it more pressing," Dr Piejko said.

"(Parents) and children who want to go to childcare or kinder need to be immunised.

"Some didn't because people got busy or forgot but this makes it an incentive."

Dr Piejko said media attention was another driver for people with coverage on the measles outbreak being a factor.

"Communities hadn't seen some diseases for a long time but the measles outbreak made people more aware to be looking after their children and the community," she said.

"(There was also) the big influenza outbreaks. Flu vaccines) is not on the immunisation schedule but across board that data is up quite significantly because it has been seen on the news and in other friends and neighbours."

The percentage of fully vaccinated one-year-old in central Victoria were all above 91 per cent with Campaspe leading the way with 96.52 per cent of babies vaccinated.

Regions above the national average of 94.14 included Maryborough-Pyrenees (95.83) and Bendigo (94.33). Macedon Ranges (93.7), Loddon-Elmore (92.13) and Heathcote-Castlemaine (91.69) have all recorded slight drop offs since 2018.

Dr Piejko said that scenarios where families are catching up on immunisations or a change in the immunisation schedule could account for slight drop off in vaccination rates.

"Some areas will never get high rates, so we need more information being put out there where people can understand it and take it on board," Dr Piejko said.

"(In some instances) there can be a catch-up issue and then small instances when there's schedule change and the system hasn't caught up with the change.

"So families will be getting notices but were already up to date - it's a reporting issue."

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