As the COVID19 vaccine program continues to be rolled out across Australia, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has been talking up what a great vaccination nation Australia is. But is this really the case?
Sure, vaccination rates for five year olds are at around 95%, but if history is anything to go by, it is highly unlikely that adults are going to roll up their sleeves at the same rate.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, only 18% of Australians received the pandemic vaccine Panvax.
This is despite the fact Panvax had received full regulatory approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), unlike COVID19 vaccines, which have received only provisional approval, and are, for all intents and purposes, experimental.
It was widely reported after the 2009 pandemic that millions of doses of Panvax had to be thrown out due to low vaccine uptake.
Please tell Minister Hunt he is dreaming if he thinks anywhere near 95 percent of Australians will agree to be vaccinated with these experimental products.
Only time will tell.
It was reported in October of last year that vaccine manufacturers have been granted indemnity by the government for injuries or deaths arising from COVID19 vaccines.
The federal government has given “indemnity” to suppliers of coronavirus vaccines against liabilities, but is refusing to provide details about what they have agreed to.
This means that manufacturers will have no legal liability for the harm their experimental vaccines cause.
In the unlikely event of being able to prove in court that the vaccine was responsible for an injury or death, the government has agreed to pick up the tab for the manufacturer. What a racket!
An obvious question arises:
If, as Minister Hunt asserts, these vaccines are safe, why on earth has the government granted the manufacturers indemnity?
Minister Hunt has also been spruiking the line that COVID19 vaccines will be entirely voluntary, even though Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison is on the record as saying coronavirus vaccination will be ‘as mandatory as possible’.
Whilst the PM has allegedly backed away from that statement, there is good reason to remain concerned.
As we saw in 2020, the states and territories were more than happy to implement unprecedented mandatory flu vaccination for aged care workers, and visitors to those facilities.
And when all else fails, the government may encourage businesses to do its dirty work.
Just last month, Peter Strong from the Council of Small Business mentioned on The Drum (39:57 min to 47:20 min) that he had met with federal Attorney General Christian Porter, Minister Hunt and unions regarding vaccine mandates.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce fell into line when he announced last year that COVID19 vaccination will be mandatory for international flights.
Well, we’ll see about that.
The following video presents a satirical view of what many Australians think about Mr Joyce’s announcement.