My resolve to write no more columns about the coronavirus circus besetting this country took a tumble when I ran into a friend last week who told me he wouldn’t be getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
“You know the vaccines are killing thousands, don’t you?” he asked, conspiratorially. My friend is in his late 60s. He has been watching US ultra conservative websites that preach the danger of vaccination and spruik the use of hydroxychloroquine (a type of bleach)* to prevent catching Covid.
There was no persuading him. Nothing short of brute force will get a jab into that man’s arm.
Which is bad news, not just for him but for all of us. This is because, under the roadmap out of Covid announced by the Prime Minister, 80% of Australians will need to be fully vaccinated before we have any real chance of getting off the treadmill of state-wide lockdowns and border closures. The target is based on solid research from the Doherty Institute. To open up our economy again, to resurrect jobs killed by earlier lockdowns and to prise open the door to international travel, it will be essential to reach that 80% target.
So those who – through fear, misinformation or religious conviction – make an active decision not to be vaccinated put at risk the return to freedom that all of us so deeply crave.
Government research suggests that 77% of Australians are comfortable being vaccinated; only a small additional effort required to persuade another 3% to get the jab, right? Except that sudden changes in public perception of the vaccine rollout can have devastating effects on take-up rates.
A good example are the bizarre statements by the Queensland Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, about the “dangers” of the AstraZeneca vaccine. She warned younger Queenslanders not to get this vaccine because of the risk of blood clots.
Dr Young is out on a limb with these pronouncements. All other public health authorities are recommending AstraZeneca for people under 60. And for good reason. We cannot reach the 80% target by the end of the year without relying on AstraZeneca, and the risks associated with this vaccine have been grossly overstated.
The Doherty Institute research shows no meaningful difference between the effectiveness of AstraZeneca and, say, Pfizer. Both dramatically reduce the rate of death and hospitalisation. Australia needs both these drugs to break free of the grip of the coronavirus.
But perceptions are powerful. In the welter of statistics and pronouncements swirling through the media, people – vulnerable people – have picked up the message that something is wrong with AstraZeneca, and they are holding back.
Incentives to get vaccinated (like Labor’s $300 bonus payment), or penalties on those who hold out (like no international travel) may bridge the gap, but we should not underestimate how many feel so strongly that they will resist all efforts at persuasion.
And in a society where individual choice reigns, we will all be poorer for such terrible choices.
- *FACT CHECK: The Australian Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration states: “Hydroxychloroquine is used for treatment of malaria and certain autoimmune diseases.”
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What do I need to know about the Moderna vaccine? And how does it compare with Pfizer?
