THREE central Victorian municipalities have reached the 90 per cent double dose threshold this week.
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As of November 1, the Campaspe Shire has hit 90.4 per cent, Macedon Ranges has reached 93.5 per cent and the Buloke Shire has vaccinated 92.6 per cent of its population.
Buloke Shire mayor Daryl Warren said hitting the milestone was a great community effort.
"It's great to have the community all behind the ability to get fully vaccinated," he said.
"They've worked very hard to get there and our health services that have really pushed it have done an amazing job and we thank them for their hard work.
Cr Warren said while the municipality has yet to record a single COVID-19 case, he was certain the community would be safe if they were to come into contact.
"I do have a fair degree of confidence that as the state opens up, the impact of people travelling through the Buloke Shire will be lessened because we are fully vaccinated," he said.
"While we can't verify the travellers status, we know we're protecting our community with our rates."
He said it was no longer a matter of if, it's now when the community would record a case of COVID-19 in the future.
"We have towns on two major highways, the Calder and the Sunraysia, so it's bound to happen and we're bound to eventually record an exposure site somewhere," he said.
"But with such high vaccination rates, I am confident our communities will be a lot safer now than they would have been a few months ago."
Campaspe Shire Council mayor Chrissy Weller congratulated the community on reaching the milestone.
"We cannot begin to express how proud we are of our residents. From the moment vaccines became available, we encouraged our community to do the right thing and book in a vaccination appointment," she said.
"To be ahead of the rest of the state is an outstanding achievement, however, it's not a time for being critical of our neighbours.
"Every single person in every single municipality is making an effort to stop this spread of COVID 19. We're just happy to be a part of that."
Cr Weller said with vaccination rates so high and the border with NSW now reopen, many community members were feeling a sense of relief.
"The response from our community members is one of relief. Due to border closures and restrictions, livelihoods were being disrupted, to say the least. Now, thanks to vaccinations, hopefully we can return to some degree of normality," she said.
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