by Alison Ryan

Fri 4 Feb 2022

Decision puts state at odds with counterparts in Victoria and South Australia who have already mandated a third jab

The New South Wales government will not seek to mandate booster shots for healthcare workers, DESPITE calls from VICTORIA to change the definition of a fully vaccinated person to include a third dose.

[The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) is currently preparing advice for national cabinet that is expected to recommend expanding the definition of full vaccination against Covid-19 to three shots.]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/04/nsw-backtracks-on-making-vaccine-boosters-mandatory-for-health-workers

Last week the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said changing the definition of fully vaccinated “makes sense”, and in early January the state’s health minister, Brad Hazzard, said that “anybody for whom vaccination was mandatory already will now have boosters mandated”.

But on Thursday Hazzard told the Guardian that after consulting with both the Health Services Union and the Nurses and Midwives’ Association the state government would no longer push ahead with the mandate for the state’s strained health workers.

“Certainly in early January, when the numbers were increasing dramatically off the back of Omicron and before the number of furloughed workers started dropping, as health minister I was certainly serious about moving towards a mandate position for the third dose,” he said.

“But I also then did what I hope any sensible health minister would do and that is talk to those that represent our health workers, being the HSU and also the Nurses and Midwives’ Association and others, and they made it clear that health workers are, as we all know, quite exhausted and tired from two years of intense frontline work.”

Hazzard said:

“We’ve decided to take essentially a more encouraging and nurturing approach to getting them all [boosted], rather than forcing the issue and jumping in with mandates,” he said.

“They are all double vaccinated and chances are they will proceed to get a booster regardless. They’re health workers and the vast majority would understand the need to get the booster.

“That’s the current position NSW is taking. We would like to work with our health workers.”

But the secretary of the Health Services Union, Gerard Hayes, told the Guardian he had lobbied the government not to push ahead with a third-dose mandate.

“It’s been two and a bit years, health workers are tired. They’re beyond tired. They’re chronically fatigued and at the edge of their tether. We don’t believe you can just put a health order on top of a health order. This is about bringing people with you.

“They’re health workers. They don’t need a ‘do this or else’. We’re all mature and we know what’s going on now. We have said, don’t drop another bomb on them and say, ‘Here, do this’.

https://www.hsu.asn.au/stay-informed/newsroom/nsw-backtracks-on-making-vaccine-boosters-mandatory-for-health-workers

Let’s keep our eye on the goals!