Vaccination Required For Some Workers In Victoria
The Victorian State Government has released a statement today, advising Authorided Workers that they must have one dose of vaccine, or an appointment for one by 15th October, to continue working on site.
Premier Daniel Andrews said, “All of our health workers are working their guts out to be there for us and they need us all to do our bit and get vaccinated, so we can continue on our pathway to opening.”
In the Statement, the the State Government said that over the course of the pandemic, when they have needed to limit movement and slow the spread of the virus, restrictions have been our primary weapon. Now, with supply of the vaccine finally becoming widely available, they say they are able to protect all workers who aren’t able to do their essential work from home and protect the roadmap to reopening.
As they move through Victoria’s Plan to Deliver the National Roadmap, they say they will see more pressure on our health system than we ever have. It is still crucial, according to the State Government, to continue to protect our health system from being overwhelmed. The statement said “Our nurses, doctors, ambos and all of our health workers are working their guts out to be there for us and they need us all to do our bit.”
On the advice of the public health team, all workers – in Melbourne and regional Victoria – on the Authorised Worker list will require their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by Friday, 15 October in order to continue working onsite. They will need to be fully vaccinated by 26 November.
Minister for Health Martin Foley said, “If you’ve been putting it off or waiting to get vaccinated, don’t wait any longer. The best vaccine is the vaccine you can get today and we all need to do our bit to protect the community and get back to the things we love.”
The advice from the Burnet Institute and all our public health officials is that vaccination remains our best protection. As authorised workers are currently moving around Victoria the most, it’s vital they get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and all of Victoria.
The 15 October deadline will not apply to workers who already have existing requirements under CHO directions – groups like construction, freight, healthcare, aged care and education will still have to comply with previous advice.
This comes after the Fair Work Commision published a Decision for an appeal, on the case Jennifer Kimber v Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care Ltd (C2021/2676), which included a statement on covid-19 vaccine mandates. In this decision, it stated that, “Research in the context of COVID-19 has shown that many who are ‘vaccine-hesitant’ are well educated, work in the health care industry and have questions about how effective the vaccines are in stopping transmission, whether they are safe to take during pregnancy, or if they affect fertility. A far safer and more democratic approach to addressing vaccine hesitancy, and therefore increasing voluntary vaccination uptake, lies in better education, addressing specific and often legitimate concerns that people may hold, and promoting genuine informed consent. It does not lie in censoring differing opinions or removing rights and civil liberties that are fundamental in a democratic nation. It certainly does not lie in the use of highly coercive, undemocratic and unethical mandates.”
The Fair Work Commision decision also stated “The statements by politicians that those who are not vaccinated are a threat to public health and should be “locked out of society” and denied the ability to work are not measures to protect public health. They are not about public health and not justified because they do not address the actual risk of COVID. These measures can only be about punishing those who choose not to be vaccinated. If the purpose of the PHOs is genuinely to reduce the spread of COVID, there is no basis for locking out people who do not have COVID, which is easily established by a rapid antigen test. Conversely, a vaccinated person who contracts COVID should be required to isolate until such time as they have recovered. Blanket rules, such as mandating vaccinations for everyone across a whole profession or industry regardless of the actual risk, fail the tests of proportionality, necessity and reasonableness. It is more than the absolute minimum necessary to combat the crisis and cannot be justified on health grounds. It is a lazy and fundamentally flawed approach to risk management and should be soundly rejected by courts when challenged.”
The Victorian State Government has advised, that in order to help ensure these workers can receive their vaccine in time, it is expanding the GP and pharmacy grant program to priority LGAs in regional Victoria, and doubling the number of grants available for the existing LGAs – providing more of our primary care network with $4,000 and $10,000 grants to boost their hours and staff and ultimately, get more vaccines into the arms of Victorians.
The government is also conduct a walk up Moderna blitz from 4 October to 10 October at the following sites:
- Melton Vaccination Hub (Bunnings)
- Sunshine Vaccination Hub
- Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
- Royal Exhibition Building
- Sandown Racecourse Vaccination Centre
- Frankston Community Vaccination Hub
- Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre
- Dandenong Palm Plaza
- Former Ford Factor Campbellfield
- La Trobe University site in Bundoora
- St Francis Xavier College Officer Campus
The statement added that there is a need to ensure the virus does not travel further into regional Victoria, which is why businesses that are open in regional Victoria – restaurants or beauty, for example – must continue to check the IDs of everyone they serve.
Over the next week there are 13,000 first dose Pfizer appointments available and 8,000 first dose Astra Zeneca appointments available through the state-run system. Victorians can also book a vaccine appointment through their GP or pharmacist where many more appointments are available.
Victorian pharmacists are now also offering the Moderna vaccine, which is safe and effective mRNA vaccine. This vaccine is now also on offer at select state sites for anyone aged 12 to 59. GPs and pharmacies are now providing both Pfizer and Moderna to all ages, including those above aged 59.
To book a vaccination through state-run centres – or to see links for how to book at your local GP or pharmacy – visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine
The Victorian Governments list of Authorised Workers can be found here – https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/authorised-provider-and-authorised-worker-list