Anti-vaccine activists and public figures are seizing confusion about the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout to sow further discord and vaccine hesitancy among Australians.
On Wednesday the Queensland government led the charge against a late-night announcement by the prime minister which suggested Australians of all ages could access the AstraZeneca vaccine and their doctors would be protected by a federal government indemnity scheme should any side effects occur.
“I do not want under-40s to get AstraZeneca,” Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young told a press conference. “I don’t want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness.”
It was an evocative and direct statement intended to stand up to the federal government, a popular move in Australian politics currently. A slickly produced video clipping up Young’s statements was posted on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“Even the UK government won’t allow their under-40s to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. This is not the time to risk the safety of our young Australians,” the video is captioned.
Even though the information was wrong (those under 40 in the UK can get the AstraZeneca vaccine if they choose), the clip had its intended effect. The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times on Palaszczuk’s Facebook account — a number far exceeding her normal metrics — and more than a thousand shares.
And one group that was very active in spreading the snippet was anti-vaxxer activists.
The video was shared to several Australian and global anti-vaxxer groups on Telegram, a social media platform embraced by conspiracy theorists and extremists because of its near non-existent moderation. Some groups have tens of thousands of members.
Crikey has chosen not to name groups to limit the spread of their misinformation.
Some interpreted the coordinated pushback against AstraZeneca as a conspiracy to make the Pfizer vaccine look safer by comparison.
“State governments are trying to make themselves and Pfizer look good, don’t get it twisted,” one large Australian anti-vaxxer group posted on its various social media profiles to tens of thousands of followers.
(Both vaccines have been found to be incredibly safe and effective at combating COVID-19.)
Other public figures who have been vaccine-sceptics or full-blown anti-vaxxers embraced it too.
Former Coalition MP Craig Kelly was one. While denying he’s an anti-vaxxer, the independent federal politician has repeatedly spread medical misinformation and argued against the use of COVID-19 vaccines. He welcomed Young’s announcement, sharing a link to the article with followers.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m watching brainwashed people talking nonsense on Sky, and Qld CMO Dr. Young is right,” he tweeted.
Former One Nation senator Rod Culleton joined in too, sharing a video of Young from the Rod Culleton’s Great Australia Party Facebook account. Culleton has recruited Pete Evans, perhaps Australia’s most infamous anti-vaxxer celebrity, to run for Great Australia Party at the next election, and has been courting the vote of vaccine-hesitant Australians.
G&B Lawyers, a law firm with anti-vaxxer lawyer Nathan Buckley who has raised money to run class actions suits against vaccine mandates and other public health orders, also posted positively about the confusion.
“Let it be clear that Scott Morrison has gone rogue and has abandoned all Australians under the age of 40,” the firm posted.
Each of these posts had hundreds of engagements, showing that their message had spread wide and indicating that Young’s statement has given a credible piece of ammunition in the guerrilla war against COVID-19 vaccines.
While it’s not good to give comfort to the tin foil hat brigade or a pig ignorant menace like Kelly, we shouldn’t have too much preoccupation with what this mania afflicted tiny minority might do with bits of a larger scientific discussion they cherry pick. Certainly not to the detriment of the discussion.
Let’s be clear, Scotty from marketing broke ranks with public health expertise to make a convenient political announcement to, surprise surprise, take the heat off him. Young was exactly right to call him on it. When every other leader in the country has been keeping in step with scientists the PM decided to break the bi-partisanship wide open. The reference to consult your GP was a pathetic piece of marketing cover, dropping the GPs and the epidemiologists both in it.
The health officers and their teams are doing risk calculations constantly. Something like, possible deaths and ill health from side effects versus current possible harms from current COVID and mapping it to risks extant for different population groups, including age cohorts. This equation will (a) come out differently in different countries due to different levels and types of COVID (b) will not be perfect because too much information is not there. But it is the best approach we have. That is why here in Australia they think (on a carefully calculated balance) AZ for under 60s is not currently justified. But stuff science Scotty no doubt applied a calculation like, benefits to me in terms of taking the heat off and grabbing votes v I can probably easily ride out deaths that do occur and other ill-health effects won’t even register in the media/mind of the electorate.
Like climate change (let’s support continued global warming) this announcement shows that for this government political calculations are always paramount. The public good and care for citizens sits so far back it only shows up as part of electoral data crunching. Colour coded spreadsheet anyone.
Let’s remember that this sh*tfight was caused by Morrison’s inability to suppress his fetish for making hollow and meaningless ‘announcements’ after failing to even raise the issue at the National Cabinet meeting that had just finished.
He was suffering from meeja deprivation in quarantine and was so desperate for the oxygen that he made an unhinged, unsupported and undiscussed announcement purely to have his gurning mug beamed to the lumpen electorate.
He does not do content, the media is the massage.
All the vaccines are in the trial period – have been approved as an emergency measure – the public are confused because they need simple direction – but Morrison who keeps importing the variants of Covid needs to be seen daily on the news – can’t have the State premiers getting the limelight – Gladys is of that ilk – that is why the country is suffering as she didn’t make any decision for political reasons and only too late which multiplied the economic damage – it is not the lockdowns that are doing the damage – it is the lack of decision allowing the epidemic get out of control until we have 80% vaccination.
As for the anti-vaxxers they are new age nutters same as in Jenners time with smallpox – the antiv-axxers din’t want the cowpox variant in case the vaccine turned their children into cows – these nutters now use modern concepts and languages but essentially still the same.
None of the vaccines in Australia are approved as an emergency measure. All went through full TGA approval processes.
I live in Queensland.
Dr. Young’s statement about the vaccination and under 40s is the first time she has made me angry.
There was no problem when Astrazeneca was rolled out to all frontline staff, large numbers of them under 40, in rural, regional and remote areas because Pfizer couldn’t be provided due to storage requirements and now those same people are due or have had their second vaccination.
My son is 24. He has a disability and was eligible in the phases which nursing home residents were eligible, because he has an underlying medical condition which, if he got Covid 19, would likely kill him. A week before he was due for his vaccination, they changed the ‘preference’ for which vaccination his age group should receive. He had a GP appointment and discussed it with his GP and went ahead with his vaccination, otherwise he’d have had to wait until October, or whenever Pfiser vaccinations are likely (if ever) to turn up in this area… or travel at least an hour or potentially 2 hours to get it. He doesn’t drive a car and needs to rely on his parents (both of us work) to take him to appointments out of town.
A week before my first vaccination, the recommendations changed again, which suddenly meant Astrazeneca wasn’t recommended for people under 60! That included me. I went ahead with the vaccination anyway. Yes, I was aware of the risks. My spouse is a front line worker (now fully vaccinated with Astrazeneca). My son has a disability… the last thing I want to do is bring Covid-19 into my household.
Yes, I think the Federal Government has screwed up the entire vaccination rollout, from choices of vaccination to how much they’ve ordered… they deserve a medal for ineptitude in that respect, but Dr. Young’s statement sounded hysterical.
Yes, a lot of what you say is true and it has always been the case that people under 40 could get AZ. But this should not be encouraged in general. I have had AZ and am younger than 60, but have underlying conditions that made vaccination urgent. Young’s reaction was strong, but Morrison should never have actively encouraged people under 40 to get AZ as it is just not the preferred vaccine for these people. It was absolutely his retail political reaction and not well thought out policy!
By the time I can get Pfizer I’ll be over 40, at the rate this rollout is going.
How old are you at present?? 36, 37??
32, I’m joking. But at the same time, we have a single digit percentage of the population vaccinated. So they better get a move on to make sure that stays hyperbolic and not a literal statement of fact.
Now that the US is starting to hit vaccine resistance in the Republican states, more Pfizer will become available.
Why is this useless government not donating our excess AZ vaccine to the countries trying to slow an epidemic because that is what it was designed for, rather than encouraging the young to risk their long term health.
Actually Smirko distracted the MSM from the car parks rort, didn’t he?
Outraged and perhaps not as reasoned as she normally appears, perhaps. Not hysterical, I would hope, but I know this federal government scrambles my civility frequently. They are so ad hoc, and that’s being kind.
I also live in Queensland and work in the health system in Queensland.
People working in the hospital system were given the option of AstraZeneca or Pfizer and anyone who decided that they understood what their risks of TTS were and made an informed decision, most under 60 opted to wait for the Pfizer, if it wasn’t available at the time of offer.
To my knowledge, no one was forced to get vaccinated and any frontline staff (that is the Covid ward workers including wardsmen) were either offered Pfizer or being moved from the ward they were working on.
The disability sector is a federal government responsibility and we have all observed that there have been a lot of Consultancy contracts given out, a standard Smirko move.
One wonders if these consultancy firms donate to either Hillsong or another Pentecostal church.
A stroll out has occurred, slovenly, haphazardly with the disability sector being the most discriminated against group of 1A on a par with aged care workers.
Who decided that your son’s preference had changed?
Pfizer can be distributed through out Queensland by being transported at 70C to the nearest town with a regular flight and then sent out by refrigerated courier to each of the facilities, just as we do each year with the Fluvax.
Have the federal government messed up or were they attempting a “Boris” maneuver of allowing the old, frail, sick and disabled to die?
Saving money so that they can spend it on car parks in Coalition seats, maybe?
That is actually the question I am asking. Did the federal government try to kill off the old, frail, sick and disabled?
Young was responding to the media shouting questions and then she provided sensible qualification. She said that her advice was in relation to Australians in the current situation but that if she lived in Indonesia it would probably be different. She was a doctor giving her professional opinion. Her advice has been taken completely out of context.
The public cannot grasp nuance and the meeja will not.
Dr Young is fully entitled to provide her professional advice towards vaccines age applicability. She has an access to vaccines sideffects database, so she knows all the risks for younger people. I applaud her honesty and integrity in providing a professional advice.