Melissiah spends her days as a hypnotherapist on the Mornington Peninsula providing one-on-one support to people managing the effects of anxiety, depression and trauma. Shift to vaccination policies creates 'grey area' The rate for fourth doses, or additional boosters, which have been available to vulnerable people and those aged over 30, sits at 41.2 per cent. Of that age group, 72.7 per cent of people have received a third dose or a booster. While first and second COVID-19 vaccine dose figures for people aged 16 and older sit at 97.1 per cent and 95.8 per cent, respectively, third and fourth doses continue to lag. "I don't think mandates are needed at this stage." "Really, what matters now is the third and fourth doses to protect an individual from worse disease," she said. She said mandatory flu vaccinations had already set a precedent for there to be similar rules in place in health and aged care. "I do, however, think mandates are suitable in hospital settings and aged care where you've got very vulnerable people," Professor Lewin said. Meanwhile, Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin said she did not think mandates were "appropriate at this point in time in the pandemic". Last year, Professor Leask co-authored an article in the Medical Journal of Australia that laid out considerations that should be satisfied for a "justifiable mandate", including whether vaccines reduce transmission and whether less-restrictive measures have been tried first. "People take the absence of the mandate as a signal that it's not as important because the mandate requirement became the anchor," she said. Professor Leask said vaccine mandates could have adverse outcomes, becoming "hard to walk back" for subsequent vaccines or boosters. Most other vaccine requirements refer to two doses.Ĭompanies such as Woolworths, Coles, ALDI, Virgin and Telstra are among those who told the ABC they would retain policies requiring staff to be vaccinated. In some cases, existing mandates required Victorian workers to have three vaccine doses, including in aged care, health care, specialist schools, disability care, custodial settings and emergency services. It said that, in other workplaces, occupational health and safety laws would back vaccination requirements, "allowing employers to decide which measures are most appropriate to keep their workplaces protected against COVID-19". In its announcement about the end of the pandemic declaration, the Victorian government said the mandate in health would be supported by the health departmental secretary's directions. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito)Īs of 11:59pm Wednesday, the state government's vaccination mandate will apply to health settings such as all hospitals, public sector aged care facilities, the ambulance service and facilities where day procedures take place. Public health professor Julie Leask says it's getting "increasingly difficult to justify" excluding unvaccinated people from some workplaces.
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