The Queensland Labor government will host a vaccination summit to look at how to boost jab rates and target vaccine “misinformation.”
Queensland’s Health Minister Shannon Fentiman on Oct. 13 said the summit aims to address “barriers to immunisation” and to discuss whether to expand the national immunisation program.
It will also bring together experts, patients, pharmacists, and clinicians on how to increase vaccination rates and combat vaccine fatigue post-COVID-19.
Ms. Fentiman said she wanted Queensland to become “the vaccine capital of Australia” and the discussion in the summit will “drive future reform.” The decline in vaccination rates following the pandemic is evidenced in the low influenza vaccine uptake this year, she argued.
“When it comes to immunisation, adult Queenslanders do a great job looking after their kids, but we often forget the value of looking after ourselves—evidenced by low influenza vaccine rates.”
The health minister said “vaccination fatigue” is often cited as a cause for the decline, along with “conspiracy theories” and the cost-of-living crisis.
“I am concerned about declining vaccination rates and confidence. We cannot allow vaccination fatigue, conspiracy theories, and cost-of-living pressures to undermine our vaccination rates,” she said.
“So many people have been subject to so much misinformation during and after the pandemic, and I want to know what we can do better to cut through that misinformation.”
Increasing Recognition Of Vaccine Injuries
The push to increase vaccination rates comes amid an increasing recognition of vaccine injuries in Australia and overseas.The Department of Social Services has previously estimated the government could be liable for a payout of $77 million (US$49.35 million).
In the UK, the increasing number of vaccine adverse effects had resulted in a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca, with families and patients arguing that their loved ones died or suffered severe reactions after taking its vaccine, according to their lawyers.
Meanwhile, multiple doctors and COVID-19 patients have also reported that their discussion of vaccine adverse effects has been labelled as misinformation.
Dr. Kerryn Phelps said she herself had suffered from a vaccine injury and that she faced “obstruction and resistance” to openly discuss the issue, according to a submission to the federal Parliament’s inquiry into Long COVID.
She said that while current COVID-19 vaccines may reduce the risk of developing Long COVID by an estimated 15 to 41 percent, recent data shows the risk remains for most people after immunisation, with some adverse events going on to cause “long-term illness and disability.”
Dr. Phelps also revealed in her case, that the vaccine injury resulted in dysautonomia with intermittent fevers and cardiovascular implications including breathlessness, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, and blood pressure fluctuations.
“I have spoken with other doctors who have themselves experienced a serious and persistent adverse event including cardiological, rheumatological, autoimmune reactions and neurological consequences,” she wrote in her submission.
She said while there is higher awareness about the unusual blood clotting from AstraZeneca, “less generally recognised are the reported adverse reactions after mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna beyond myocarditis and pericarditis.”
