BULOKE Shire is leading most of the state on COVID-19 vaccine rates, despite never having had a case of the virus.
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Federal Department of Health data released at the weekend shows the Buloke Shire sits only behind the state's smallest local government, the Borough of Queenscliffe, with 71 percent of residents having received at least one dose and 48.4 per cent fully vaccinated.
Currently, 64 per cent of residents in the Queenscliffe area have been fully vaccinated and just over 87 per cent had at least one dose.
Buloke Shire mayor Daryl Warren previously worked on the Mornington Peninsula and said there was a competition brewing between the two municipalities.
"Their mayor Ross Ebbles and I go way back and we had a chat this morning, congratulating each other on a job well done," Cr Warren said.
"While on the call, Ross said there was an opportunity here to create a bit of a challenge for both of our areas.
"We thought we could see who could get to being fully vaccinated first and whoever loses would host the other for a weekend within their shire area and show them all the wonderful tourist areas we have on offer.
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"We want to put the right message out there and give the people an incentive to keep working hard to be fully vaccinated."
In other parts of central Victoria, 62.2 per cent of Campaspe Shire residents have had their first dose and 36.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The Loddon Shire' has had 62.7 per cent of residents receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 35.8 per cent with both doses.
The data shows the Macedon Ranges area has 67 per cent of its people with one dose and 40 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Greater Bendigo is sitting at 40.7 per cent of residents who have received two doses of the vaccine and 62 per cent have one.
Central Goldfields has recorded 66.5 per cent of their residents as having one COVID-19 vaccine and 43.9 have had two.
The Mount Alexander Shire area has almost 68 per cent of its residents recorded to have had one dose and almost 46 per cent have had two.
Cr Warren said while the Buloke Shire area was still COVID-free, a recent scare at Wycheproof's Bakery on Broadway made residents more vigilant.
"It was definitely a wake-up call," he said.
"Reflecting back on that scare, there was definitely chatter in the community about just how simple it can be to potentially spread this virus.
"But I think it helped people jump to action and get tested and vaccinated for sure.
"It just reinforces the fact that all the way through, the community out there has taken it seriously, they've done everything that's been asked of them and it's good to see that they're still doing just that."
Cr Warren's message to people was to keep up the good work.
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"When you start to see numbers like these you can almost taste it, so to speak," he said.
"I encourage everyone to keep rolling up their sleeves and get jabbed."
At the other end of the scale, the least vaccinated LGA in Victoria is the Melbourne area with 39.3 per cent of residents with one dose and 24.5 per cent with two.
People can register for the vaccine here.
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