The reporting time for the Covid-19 Vaccination Status (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2022 and the Fair Work Amendment (Prohibiting Covid-19 Vaccine Discrimination) Bill 2023 has been extended to August 25, 2023.

On February 9, 2023, the Senate referred to the committee with the bill’s intention to prohibit the commonwealth, states and territories and other government and non-government entities from discriminating on the basis of whether a person has had a Covid-19 vaccination in the provision of goods, services and facilities and also in employment, education, accommodation and sport, and amend the Fair Work Act 2009 by adding Covid-19 vaccination status as an attribute protected from discrimination.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, state governments took it upon themselves to mandate the use of the novel therapeutics, in what former Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt described as “the largest clinical trial, largest vaccination trial ever.” 

Concerns have been raised about the lack of informed consent and coercion used to drive government mandated targets to ‘regain freedom’.

The manner in which these provisionally approved therapeutics were tested, authorised and mandated were completely novel. Unlike ‘every other vaccine’, emergency use authorisation was a whole new ball game.

Pfizer gained provisional approval for its Covid-19 injection following a mere two-month trial, claiming 95 per cent efficacy for the prevention of coronavirus disease. What wasn’t mentioned was the claims were based on relative risk reduction, not absolute risk reduction. The absolute risk reduction against symptomatic disease for Comiraty during the Phase 3 trial was less than 1 per cent and there was no statistical benefit against transmission, hospitalisation and/or death.

The Government TGA AusPAR reports confirm that the vaccine had no data “to show efficacy against asymptomatic infection and viral transmission.” Even the FDA specifically reminded “the public and health care providers that results from currently authorised SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate a person’s level of immunity or protection from Covid-19 at any time, and especially after the person received a Covid-19 vaccination.”

The fact that the Pfizer vaccine was never tested for stopping transmission was also highlighted by Janine Small, Pfizer’s president of international developed markets, when testifying before the European Union Parliament. When asked was the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine tested on stopping the transmission of the virus before it entered the market, Small replied, “Regarding the question around, um, did we know about stopping the immunisation [sic] before it entered the market? No, heh,” she said. 

“Uh, these, um, you know, we had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market, and from that point of view, we had to do everything at risk. I think Dr Bourla, even though he’s not here, would turn around and say to you himself, ‘If not us, then who?’”

Amendments were also made to the Therapeutic Goods Regulation Act on July 23, 2021 that reduce the safety and efficacy requirements for any therapeutic that is being assessed for “the treatment or prevention of the disease known as coronavirus disease (Covid-19).”

The change meant any therapeutic against Covid-19, including Covid-19 vaccines, no longer require preliminary clinical data demonstrating that the medicine is likely to provide a significant improvement in the efficacy or safety of the treatment and instead the TGA is now only legislatively required to classify the disease known as novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as, “of a life-threatening or seriously debilitating condition” to grant provisional approval for its use.

CoVerse, a national peak body representing Australians who have been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 vaccines, wrote in a submission to the committee, “Many of those injured as a result of their Covid-19 vaccination did so at the direction, or coercion, of their employer and/or their government and have since faced insurmountable barriers to maintaining fair and equitable employment conditions.”

CoVerse reported many who have experienced a significant adverse health impact due to their vaccinations report their doctors are often dismissive. With medical staff having been briefed on the ‘rare’ occurrence of some serious conditions, and not being briefed at all on other conditions, often the first response to seeing a patient suffering a vaccine injury is to dismiss them or label their conditions with an inappropriate mental health diagnosis.

In their submission, CoVerse wrote, “Prime Ministers, Premiers, Health Ministers, Chief Health Officers, and others who have been spokespeople during this time owed it to the public to utilise neutral language that ensured that (a) residents always had a choice to get vaccinated, and (b) choosing not to get vaccinated was acceptable (socially, morally and practically). Sadly, many of these actors have chosen to use divisive and derisive language instead, which, in the long run will only serve to erode trust in our public institutions and in our public vaccination programs in particular, and in the short term has left many residents with complicated medical ailments for which they are being further punished for by being labelled ‘antivaxxers’ and ‘misinformation’.”

This week, WorkSafe is reminding employers that pandemic regulations put in place to assist with the collection, recording, holding and use of Covid-19 vaccination information from specified persons expired July 12. WorkSafe stated “Employers are reminded that a person’s Covid-19 vaccination status is health information protected by other legislation such as the Health Records Act.”

Employers who recorded or held Covid-19 vaccination information specifically under these regulations have 30 days to destroy that information.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 13 July 2023.