Local MP Tamara Smith (Greens) is urging those unvaccinated to get their shots, warning that while the region has ‘managed to dodge bullets, the most dangerous time will be leading up, to and after, all lockdowns end on October 11’.
Ms Smith estimates that if 20 per cent of the north coast does not get vaccinated, that equates to around 36,000 people who may become exposed to the virus. ‘It could overwhelm health services’, she says.
Ms Smith says the government is telling people to prepare for COVID-19 cases, and given that Sydney residents will be 85-90 per cent vaccinated by December 1, she suspects cases on the north coast will increase.
‘We will be 80 per cent fully vaxxed by end of October (based on the Primary Health Network modelling), when the visitors start to arrive’.
Statistics from countries such as Israel, and in Europe, indicate that fully vaccinated people can still get COVID-19, pass it on to others, and can also die from the disease, albeit in lower numbers.
The NSW government says after a 70 per cent vaccination rate is reached, ‘it’s time for NSW to get back to business’.
Reopening for businesses that have fully vaccinated staff is expected to start Monday October 11. By December 1, the NSW government says there will be ‘further easing of restrictions for everyone, whether vaccinated or not’.
Yet it is unknown how such measures will play out in the north coast, which has both high rates of vaccine hesitancy/opposition and a large population of small business owners.
The government’s ‘compliance and business obligations’ document (which is part of its ‘Guidance for businesses’ documents) says that ‘Businesses are responsible for taking reasonable steps to prevent unvaccinated people entering your premises’.
The NSW government’s compliance measures are also very vague, and say, ‘Authorised officers will monitor businesses re-opening, particularly those that have vaccination requirements, for example hospitality, retail, gyms and personal services (e.g. hair, beauty)’.
The government’s proof of vaccination sheet says, ‘Anyone aged 16 or over will need to be fully vaccinated (or have an exemption) to enter most venues, including hospitality venues, non-critical retail stores, personal services, sporting, recreation and entertainment facilities and events. Critical retail such as supermarkets or pharmacies will still be accessible for people who are not fully vaccinated’.
Proof of vaccination will be via a ‘COVID-19 digital certificate’, available from the ‘Express Plus Medicare mobile app or Medicare online account, through myGov’.
Those without a smartphone can obtain a ‘A COVID-19 digital certificate or immunisation history statement… via myGov to download and print. Alternatively, call the Australian Immunisation Register to request a copy in the post’.
And for those with a medical exemption for vaccination, the government says, ‘speak to your medical practitioner about getting your medical contraindication added to your immunisation history’.
‘Safety guidelines’ for business have been issued by the NSW government, which include COVID Safe check-ins and proof of vaccination, which ‘will be required for staff and customers’.
According to the NSW government, those fully vaccinated in NSW was 64.9 per cent of the population aged 16 and over (as of September 30).
Those with a first dose are 87.5 per cent.
The figure in your second paragraph is incorrect. Everyone will be exposed to the virus not just unvaccinated people or the 36,000 you quote. The vaccine does not prevent transmission or spread. You can ask any health professional this.
Ed note: The vaccine does not prevent transmission it reduces the risk of transmission and a vaccine can be very effective in reducing ‘serious injury’ or ‘hospitalisation’ as a result of contracting COVID-19
Yes Helen you are right. As far as I know or understand (I might be wrong) the vaccine don’t completely protect against the delta strain but most better protection against previous strains i.e Alpha and the original strain from Wuhan. It would be interesting to know how it performs against Lambda and Mu.
The point is not that vaccines stop infection and transmission, but they reduce the risk. You suggest asking any health professional, well the General Health Order is based on the advice of the NSW CHO and the qualified medical professionals who adviserl her, informs and it plainly states that the Order is justified because the vaccines reduce the risk of infection and transmission.
Thank you editor for correcting this misleading comment from another person wanting the right to infect and the right to be infected. Anyway Helen looking at the stats on hospital admissions/ icu cases I’d rather be vaccinated than not. As local doctor said” linen shirts don’t protect you from Covid”.
Good to see local member promoting vaccination, shame about byron mayor.
I would like to convey to Ballina MP Tamara Smith that I became a greenie in 1948 when the last salmon reached the lower Rhine delta in The Netherlands and all commercial and recreational fishing ceased in the Rhine because the fish became inedible because the river was so polluted by the waste poured into this river at the industrial Ruhr area and by the salt poured into this river at Strassburg from the salt mines. And I remained a greenie when in the early fifties the Dutch government removed all the public swimming baths along the riverbanks of the lower Rhine and when the city of Rotterdam and its environs had to find a complete new source of drinking water for more than a million people. And I was still a greenie in the mid-sixties when I joined the original Tasmanian Wilderness Society and fought to save Lake Pedder and the damming of the Franklin River and I became an active member of Ecology Action in NSW. We fought to succesfully to create the the Myal Lakes, New England and South Coast National Parks when the Greens were still led by Bob Brown. But since then the Greens have lost the plot all over the world, including in Germany when the Greens bought into the neo-liberal economics of the Thatcher Reagan era, along with with the corporate takeover of Greenpeace and Amnesty International and MSF (Medicine Without Borders) supporting the CIA induced war against Syria and in many other places. Your support of the the corporate eugenists agenda of the World Economic Forum to conquer the world via a crises induced by bioweapons is a tragedy unfolding before your eyes and mine that cannot be supported by independent free thinkers. It’s time you wake up to the reality we find ourselves in.
And urging voters to undergo experimental medical treatment is a vote loser.
I looked at a lot of statistics from hospitals in the UK and USA today. The evidence is clear beyond doubt. Much, much more people are getting COVID that are unvaccinated than those who are vaccinated. Way more people needing hospitalisation from COVID are unvaccinated, much less are vaccinated. ICU beds are full of the unvaccinated, with few who are vaccinated. Deaths in hospitals from COVID are about 92% unvaccinated. Why take the risk?
From the recent Fair Work case,
‘[134] There is nothing controversial in stating that vaccines do not eliminate the risk of COVID, given that those who are vaccinated can catch and transmit COVID. By way of one example, a report issued by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States on 6 August 2021 25 looked at an outbreak of COVID in Massachusetts during July 2021. Of the 469 COVID cases identified, 74% were fully vaccinated. Of this group, 79% were symptomatic. In total, 5 people required hospitalisation and of these, 4 were fully vaccinated. This is not an anomaly – the data from many countries and other parts of the United States provides a similar picture, although obtaining similar data from the United States will now be problematic given the decision by the CDC on 1 May 2021 to cease monitoring and recording breakthrough case information unless the person is hospitalised or dies. What is clear, however, is that the vaccine is not an effective control measure to deal with transmission of COVID by itself’
Also from the same Fair Work case:
“ [100] Finally, the last paragraph of the Majority Decision cannot pass without comment. To suggest that Ms Kimber had a “spurious objection to a lawful workplace vaccination requirement” in circumstances where she had been advised by her medical practitioner that she did indeed have a medical contraindication to the flu shot, advised she should not have a flu shot, and had provided a properly completed IVMC form, is a terrible mischaracterisation of her and the circumstances in this case. “
And might we ask why the ‘mischaracterisation’ !
So the penny has finally dropped!
Of that 20% or 36,000 in Noth Coast number will not be vaccinate, there are 36,000 opoprtunities for Variants to take hold and spread. Delta is far worse than the original SARS-CoV-2, and more likely to put you in hospital, and more likely to kill you.
So basically there are AntiVaxxers, deniers, Protesters, and idiots (some being all of the above) who will probably get COVID or a variant and end up in hospital and more than likely dead, because they don’t understand Science, Maths, Chaos Theory, Darwinian Theory, want rights but are not prepared to be members of the Community and with their dying breath will suddenly be bebbing for treatment. Well done 20%!! But you will drag vaccinated, helpful, loving, family members with you, so you had an opportunity to make a choice.
AntiVaxxers wonder why people get so upset when they wont do the right thing?
“…and idiots”
Yeh name calling works wonders for…ah…erm… losing an audience.
You are more likely to be killed driving on our pots hole infected roads. That’s the maths.
But hey, risk analyses goes out the window when scaremongering reins.
Although I completely disagree, I respect your right to convey your divisive opinion Villa and I truly wish you well.
There have been 210 road fatalities in NSW in this year to date.
There have been 395 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021.
Hi Geoffrey,
I too have been looking at the statistic published by the CDC and the Britsh Red Card reporting as well as the Scottish and the EU Medicines Agency date bases about deaths and adverse reactions from the covid vaccines. The CDC does not count that you are fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after you receive second dose and if you die or have an adverse reaction in that time frame from the vaccination, you are counted as dying or being sick from covid! Since most deaths and adverse events after vaccination occur in that time frame and the American VAERS reporting system is voluntary, the CDC and the FDA admit that the numbers reported in that system only consists of one to ten percent of the real numbers. It takes a doctor half an hour to make such a report to VAERS. Also ask yourself how many doctors would report such a death of their patients after recommending the vaccination to their patients if they die or have a serious adverse event shortly after their vaccination? In the US and France and many other countries nurses are resigning in droves after hospitals and governments demand mandatory vaccination in their workplace. These nurses know and report what going on at their workplace, but most doctors are dismissive of the nurses’ concerns. A few weeks ago a mainstream outlet invited Facebook users if they knew friends and family who had died or got sick from covid. To their utter surpise they got 39.000 responses from users all over the world within hours from people who told their experience not with covid, but of deaths and serious adverse events of their family and friends from the vaccination! On top of that, if you test positve within four weeks of dying of a car or motorcyle accident, your are counted as dying from covid in the US! Two of my immediate family members died shortly after their 2 shots and another one is facing a major and dangerous blodclot removal operation. These family members did so, despite my best efforts to dissuade them from getting shot. I have never been anti-vaccination, but I am not willing to be a guinea pig for a potentially deadly experimental gene therapy masquerading as a vaccine.
In a year or so we may have local data and statistics to refer to . Clearly many folk here do not believe anything they read or see on mainstream news . Yet they expect to spout statistics they have found on the internet and wonder why others don’t believe their. ” Facts “. In a year or so we may have direct experience . Until then it is obvious that nobody will be convinced of anything they have decided is untrue .
Hi Dave,
The statistics about deaths and adverse events from the vaccination are to be found on all the official government websites in every country in the world that has such a reporting system and are updated every three weeks to a month. But if you are not looking for them, you won’t find or believe they exist, because the mainstream media does not report them! From your remarks it seems to me that you only believe what they tell you on the tv news. On the television programming they won’t allow any scientist or doctor no matter how eminent to have a their say or to debate any aspect of the covid story. Nor does the tv tells you about the many court cases that are ongoing worlwide against the proponents of the covid story. Last night I got another phone call that another brother of mine has died of heart complications, a commonly reported “adverse event” after the vaccination. I don’t want to scare anyone if you have been vaccinated. You can remove most of the known toxic ingredients contained within the genetically modified vaccines. But you have to do your own research or find a doctor who is willing and able to do this for you. Again, if you are looking for such a doctor, they are not hard to find. I wish you all the best of health, vaccinated or not.