Say No to Domestic Vaccine Passports

​WA Premier Mark McGowan became the first premier in Australia to introduce domestic vaccine passports.
 
Travellers entering Western Australia from New South Wales will have to show proof that they have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. They must also provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 PCR test in the 72 hours prior to departure, and they must comply with the existing quarantine and testing measures.
 
The new measures will also apply for people arriving from all states and territories that are deemed “high risk” in the future. According to the Western Australian government, a state or territory will be considered high risk if it records an average of 50 COVID-19 cases a day.
 
Mr McGowan acknowledged that “these are tough measures but they are necessary to protect the state”.
 
“I think this is actually a template for other states to look at, should they want to put in place measures to protect themselves from the raging outbreak in New South Wales”, said Mr McGowan.
 
It didn’t take long for Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to follow Mr McGowan’s advice.
 
It will be a requirement for essential workers who need to cross into Queensland from New South Wales to be vaccinated. Ms Palaszczuk said that “we are extremely concerned about the possibility of this virus coming into Queensland so we will take every precaution we possibly can”.
 
Which begs the question, who qualifies as an essential worker? Does earning an income and supporting your family make you essential? Does paying your mortgage and children’s school fees make you essential? Does running a business to support the economy make you essential? We are all essential. The country wouldn’t operate without each and every one of us playing our part and contributing to society.
 
Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly supported the introduction of domestic vaccine passports by saying “I think that's very consistent with what the national plan is seeking to achieve”. However, he stopped short of saying they would be a permanent fixture.
 
“It’s a decision for now because borders exist now… The whole point of getting to higher and higher levels of vaccination – in particular when we get to 80 per cent – is that’s when we’re saying goodbye to lockdowns... When there are no lockdowns there should be no borders… We’re not running a mandatory vaccination program… In specific cases, we may seek to do that for public health reasons. But otherwise, that’s just not how we do things in Australia.”
 
Let’s see if he is true to his word.
 
Perhaps Mr McGowan and Ms Palaszczuk, along with Mr Morrison, should look at the data coming out of various countries with high vaccination rates.
 
At the time of writing, according to Our World in Data, 81% of the eligible population in Iceland are vaccinated, with 75% fully vaccinated. However, the Intensive Care Unit at the National University Hospital is in danger of being overwhelmed due to an increased in COVID-19 cases.
 
73 people were hospitalised, with approximately 67% fully vaccinated. 23 people were in the emergency department, with 17 fully vaccinated and 6 unvaccinated. Out of these people, 6 out of the 11 patients in ICU were fully vaccinated. Approximately two-thirds of the current cases are in people who have been vaccinated.
 
The Prime Minister has stated that lockdowns and border closures will ease when 80% of the population is vaccinated. Perhaps he should look at what is happening in Iceland with 80% of the population vaccinated.
 
In Singapore, 77% of the population is vaccinated, with 71% fully vaccinated. In the most recent outbreak in July, out of 1,096 locally transmitted cases, 44% were in fully vaccinated people, 30% were in partially vaccinated people and 25% were in unvaccinated people. 1% was unknown.
 
If Mr McGowan or Ms Palaszczuk believe that the vaccine will prevent cases in their states, they better think again. The data clearly shows that the vaccine is ineffective at preventing someone from developing COVID-19.
 
Israel, often considered the testing ground due to their quick roll out of the Pfizer vaccine, is also experiencing a spike in cases. So far, 68% of the population is vaccinated, with 63% fully vaccinated. Recent data shows that 84% of the cases in those above the age of 19 were in fully vaccinated individuals.
 
In Massachusetts in the US, there was a recent outbreak of 469 cases according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the CDC. 69% of eligible residents were vaccinated against COVID-19, yet 74% of the cases occurred in fully vaccinated people.
 
Why do our politicians and health officials continue to ignore the data? Can it be any more obvious?
 
The TGA’s Australian Public Assessment Report for the Pfizer vaccine states that a “correlate of protection has yet to be established” and that the “duration of protection” is unknown.
 
What is known is that the vaccine is ineffective at protecting against COVID-19. If this is the case, how can Mr McGowan and Ms Palaszczuk require people to have had at least one dose of the vaccine to cross the state border to WA and QLD from NSW?
 
It is also known that the effectiveness is significantly lower after the first dose compared to the second. This sets a dangerous precedent for other states to follow.
 
Why are people being prevented from earning an income for refusing to inject a product into their body with no long-term safety data?
 
Why are families being separated from each other for choosing not to take a vaccine with more adverse events in 6 months than for all other vaccines in 30 years?
 
Why are people not being allowed to say goodbye to dying loved ones for choosing not to be part of a mass population experiment?
 
Whether you choose to take the vaccine or not is your choice. The point is it should remain a choice.
 
What no one has the right to do, including the Prime Minister and state premiers, is coerce, force or pressure people into taking an experimental injection, and restricting their liberties and freedoms if they refuse to do so.
 
We cannot let this continue any longer. It’s time to stand up Australia. Enough is enough.

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