The Mandate Debate

To be, or not to be . . . vaccinated that is? And yes, that IS the question.

I have been following the Covid pandemic with great interest, as has the entire world no doubt. Lockdowns were scary, and lonely; facing a terminal illness without my family beside me has been challenging. 

There have been enough heartbreaking situations through this pandemic to give anyone anxiety, but one thing I’ve been most thankful for is where we live. This community has been amazing to each other from the very outset.

From the first lockdown, all did their part social distancing, practising good hygiene, masking up and locking down; workplaces were supportive of staff that had to work from home; we checked on our mates and neighbours. We all worked together to keep members of the community safe and well, and we were rewarded with zero cases, still to date.

When the vaccine rolled out, the sleeves rolled up, voluntarily and in numbers that made the Buloke Shire one of the leaders in the race to 80%. Still working together, still zero cases.

Then the mandate, holy moley! And now what has happened to our community? For the first time since I have lived here, I am seeing the people divided. Families and friends are arguing and there is stress in homes and workplaces. 

But what has changed? We are still at zero cases. Vaccination numbers are still climbing. We still love and care about each other — don’t we? 

The Mandate
The only thing that has happened with enough power to divide us, is the mandate, and it really doesn’t sit well with me — is it just me? The moment the mandate was announced, I wanted to know “why?” It just didn’t make sense!  There is simply something “not right” about telling someone to “do this, or lose this”; I followed those orders when consenting to immunotherapy and I’m still suffering the side effects. 
I must admit that with my health issues, I’d been anxious about the vaccine and really didn’t want to be rushed into getting the jab — not just yet, if at all. I had been trying to find information on adverse reactions, perhaps information on how other people with similar circumstances might have reacted. The advice of the doctor is not enough for me; the leading expert opinion on my body is and always has been, my own. 

Information was not at all easy to find, but when I started hearing whispers of vaccination passports and mandates, my searches quickly switched to the topic of human rights, and that information was even harder to find. Alarm bells triggered — why was it so hard to find the answers I am looking for? The truth loves transparency, why is it so difficult to find?

I started wondering if I had been watching too much X-Files; my brain was fizzing out with all this contradictory information. I also started to consider asking for an exemption, thinking, “Lucky I have cancer; I might be able to get out of it.” That thought alone unsettled me. (FYI — I have been since informed that exemptions are virtually impossible to get and only appear to be available to those who have already had an allergic reaction to their first jab.)

Besides, even if my health conditions were considerable enough to get an exemption, what makes my reasons better than the next person? It is their body, their choice . . . Isn’t it? 

Answers to all of my questions came unexpectedly in the form of a well-researched document (which I can have emailed on request to those interested), written by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. The research contained important points, backed up with sources, law suits that may provide a precedent, websites containing data and statistics, and detailed information on the implications the mandate has for human rights. All the answers I was looking for! Except the answers alone raised more questions . . .

Employment
First of all, the public health order itself puts the obligation on employers. Way to pass the buck! It asks employers to collect vaccination information on their staff, and then it tells them that the unvaccinated workers cannot come on site unless for an emergency, or replacement staff cannot be found. 

What an awful position to put employers in! Basically, they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they refuse to follow the mandate and stick up for the rights of their unvaccinated staff members, they risk hefty fines, business closure, and ultimately all of the staff members, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, may end up unemployed. It is no wonder that most employers are following the guidelines of the mandate, although that too comes at a cost to them. 

It is not just incomes lost for the unvaccinated staff members that have stepped down from their working positions. Working relationships that have flourished for years, built on mutual respect and developing into friendships, now face conflict. 

Small business owners who can’t afford to be fined for non-compliance, but also can’t afford to lose valuable and skilled workers, will just have to bear the cost of advertising and training new staff regardless, at the same time trying to keep the business running. For all involved who have already suffered through 18 months of hardship, this mandate seems heartless and unreasonable.

The human rights implications are so complicated and numerous, it is hard to believe a mandate was even considered, when there are more proportionate options. Continued testing, consideration of individual circumstances, more flexibility for obtaining exemptions, even slightly milder regulations for the unvaccinated could be alternatives that pose minimum necessary intrusion on human rights (as recommended by the AHRC in its review January 2021).

Coercion Is Not Consent
The most concerning and confusing aspect of the mandate for me is that taking important things away from people until they agree to do what you say isn’t giving them a choice. It is punishing them until they concede to your demands. Normally we would refer to this type of behaviour as manipulation or abuse. Though apparently not when it’s the government doing it?

As for my own vaccination status . . . as passionate as my defiance is, it was not as easy as you might think for me to stand up against the mandate. The “Buloke Times” staff and management were patient and so understanding of my hesitance, willing to bear with me while I made my decision; but as the closing date neared, we had to discuss how I would manage my workload from home. 

I was certainly not going to put the community’s beloved paper at risk, nor would I put my employers at risk of penalty should I attend the office. Although the lockdowns have demonstrated my ability to work from home, I could only really do the bare minimum in that situation. Alternatively, a replacement staff member would need to be found and trained to fill my position. 

After last year’s cancer treatment, hospital stays, illness and lockdowns, I think my workmates have well and truly picked up enough of my slack by now and it upset me to even consider doing that to them again, just as lockdowns are lifting and things are picking up. I love my job, and I love my workmates, and with a terminal illness, I had to consider how much time I have left to enjoy the things I love. The same could be said for wanting to see my family again in the near future; I was not sure I would have the time to wait it out.

It was for those reasons that I had my first jab at Birchip Medical Clinic on Monday, November 8. I felt very sick in my stomach, feeling like I was selling out on my own beliefs, but the staff at the Birchip clinic  were gentle and encouraging; very much understanding of the position people have been put in with the mandate.

Despite joining the ranks of the vaccinated, I still don’t feel right about how this vaccine was forced upon people the way that it has been; but is there anything that can be actually be done about it? My signature appears on the dotted line of the consent form as though I was willing enough, but my consent was certainly not given freely and I was far from ready to make the decision.

In my opinion, people’s choice for their own body is the last true power they really have, and threatening the things that are most important to them is blackmail plain and simple. I don’t feel that is freedom of choice in those circumstances, and I can’t trust a government that can so blatantly disregard the rights of the people it is meant to be serving (whether vaccinated or not, we all have the same human rights that we should be protecting).

Adverse Events
At the very least, if the government is going to in­fluence our decisions by enforcing the mandate, it should provide full transparency to ease the minds of those concerned about getting the vaccine.

There has been so much confusion, and it has been difficult to get straight answers to any questions you might have. I for one, was concerned about handling my current health issues and medications, in addition to any adverse events from the vaccine. Finally feeling somewhat well again after nearly two years, is something I was not willing to give up. 

The document I mentioned earlier directed me to the site that lists the adverse events of the vaccine and the numbers of those that experienced them (google DAEN); you can search by vaccine name and dates administered. For example, a search on the Astra Zeneca vaccine resulted in a 50-page list of adverse reactions compiled from 1400 pages of reports on just that vaccine on its own. 

The widely varied side effects made me realise that there are more things to consider than exacerbating existing illnesses; there’s a chance you could develop brand new health conditions too! And with the vaccines only registered for provisional use, does that mean you cannot claim income protection or life insurance in the event of a serious adverse reaction, or on going health issues? Who will cop the blame then? Your employer for being forced to force the vaccine maybe?

There has been a great deal of argument surrounding the rising numbers of teens showing signs of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle and lining of the muscle respectively). Both of these conditions are said to be very rare; however, many young people have been treated for both conditions following their Pfizer vaccination, particularly teenage males.

The further into the year we have gone, the younger the age approved for vaccination has become. At the very least, shouldn’t the parents of the younger members of the population be allowed to see more data before deciding to vaccinate their children? Particularly with concerns of heart conditions developing in teens — I can’t imagine the anxiety and fear they would be feeling at this mandate.

Mental Health
Which brings me to my final and biggest concern – mental health. We are all surviving through a very rough time. People are scared and desperate, we all want to reconnect with each other, and we’ve been shown the light at the end of the tunnel. But the solution on offer has caused more division than we’ve experienced through the pandemic thus far. 

People don’t need to be judged and ostracized over their vaccination status right now. More than ever we need each other’s support, and open minds that don’t deny a person’s right to choose for themselves. Peace of mind and some security for the future is what everyone needs right now, not division and judgement. 

Until the vaccination target and the mandate were introduced, we were all working together. Are we so impatient that we have to force this vaccine on unwilling recipients, regardless of their reason? People are scared and have every right to be. 

Personally, I’d like to be a support to others on this journey, not leave them in the dust on the road while I race to the finish line. I don’t care about their vaccination status, I care about them.