Government should be responsible for vaccination hesitancy, not the media

Government should be responsible for vaccination hesitancy, not the media

This Monday, Four Corners of ABC screened a feature on the vaccine crisis in Australia. There was the issue with supply, delivery and rollout of the vaccination program together with the unfortunate blood clotting threat of AstraZeneca. Vaccine hesitancy is now clearly an emerging issue in Australia.

Currently, less than 15% of Australians have received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. But it is known that unless over 70% of the population are vaccinated, there will not be herd immunity and there will be no way for society to become normal.

Responding to vaccine hesitancy, CMO Professor Brendan Murphy said that “we all have our part to play in this”. But he’s saying, “I think the biggest impact on hesitancy is, frankly, sensationalist media reporting.” This is far from the truth. His explanation of “Media has an important role in bringing truthful detailed information to the public … please go to those official sites where information is … to see what they are saying.” has confused the role of media and the government. Media reports to the public while the government educates and promotes its policies to the public. It is the government that fails to do its duty.

With blood clotting and other negative issues associated with AstraZeneca, it is not difficult to predict the reluctance to get the vaccination. The government should educate and explain in details to the public and spend more to promote its rollout plan. The more people are taking up earlier vaccination, the greater chance of getting success of the rollout. It is the delay and indifference of the government to respond causing the vaccine hesitancy.

Yes, the CMO has given good professional advice but that is not enough for the timely implementation of the vaccination rollout. The insensitivity of policymakers and politicians is the real cause. CALD communities under strong influences of misinformation will be the most affected groups. The federal government should respond to the challenge promptly.

Raymond Chow

Publisher, Blessing CALD