Anti-vaxxers are promoting fear and division | Peter Goers

As they were getting kicked out of Glenelg last week, some of the anti-vaxxers shouted at me. Well, I’m used to that, writes Peter Goers.

Is there any proof that anyone ever died from a Covid vaccination? There is proof that people have died from hiccups, laughter, swallowing toothpicks, turtles falling on their heads, being bashed by Bibles and bitten by cassowaries. You are vastly more at risk from these terrible things than a Covid vax.

Vaccinations have saved billions of lives and the Covid vax has undeniably helped mitigate the pandemic. Sadly, this is heresy to the stupid anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists.

Returning home last Saturday arvo on a perfect day at Glenelg, it was horrifying to be confronted by an enormous double-sided billboard trailer parked on the lawns outside The Beachouse on Colley Terrace.

Each stake told a story of someone who claims to have been affected by the vaccine or that a loved one was affected. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Under pictures of sad kiddies, the billboard’s spurious message is “Covid-19 jabs can cause infertility, brain damage, immune system disease, heart attacks, permanent disability”.

People from Adelaide Freedom Rally had placed hundreds of laminated posters on pikes into the lawn.

The posters allege to tell the stories of people (who rarely give their full names) who allege harm from the Covid vax.

The ragtag demonstrators claim to encourage choice as to vaccination yet they are obsessed by promoting what they consider to be harmful and rail against a media conspiracy.

I can respect people who quietly declined vaccination but despair of those who very noisily and publicly opposed vaccination thus increasing risk for others.

We’ve all learned it’s useless to engage with anti-vaxxers, sovereign citizens and/or conspiracy theorists. If they believe that vaccinations are dangerous and or that the late Queen and the Clintons are shape-shifting lizard pedophiles, you’re wasting your breath talking them out of it. Stupid is as stupid does. These Glenelg protestors could’ve put up 5.5 billion posters of all the people whose lives have been saved by Covid vaccination.

The anti-vaxxers had taken over an entire park to espouse their crackpot ideas and had no council permit to do so.

Amanda Wilson, Holdfast Bay Mayor, Picture: Supplied

They’d also illegally parked a car towing the billboard trailer on public land. The excellent Mayor of Holdfast Bay, Amanda Wilson, was alerted, and when the demonstrators declined to pack up and move because the International Declaration of Human Rights apparently allowed them to break the law, she called the police who arrived promptly and sensibly did not engage on the issue, just told them to leave.

Happily, they complied so at least they did something right.

As they were packing up, some of the anti-vaxxers shouted vile, vicious, angry abuse at me. Well, I’m used to that. I smiled, waved and walked away.

The anti-vaxxers are promoting fear and division in a world health crisis. In their leaflets they tell us the Covid vax can cause paralysis, hallucinations, vaso vagal attacks, heart attacks, complete collapse of the lymphatic system, hair loss, tinnitus, miscarriage, tics and many other medical conditions. What about broken hearts and wooden legs? Like all conspiracy theorists, only they know the truth. It’s them against the world and, of course, the media is always blamed.

One of the Glenelg fools was shouting that “the polio vaccine causes autism”. Sigh.

The great irony of the anti-vaxxers is that if they hadn’t been vaccinated against polio, measles, yellow fever, smallpox and diphtheria, they’d either be disabled or dead and unable to illegally occupy public space and promote gobbledygook.

They gave passersby back issues of a WA newspaper The Light Australia which “reports honest independent news and information the mainstream media ignores” such as anti-vax crap, climate change denial and that forces of evil are covertly manipulating the weather.

The dogs bark and the caravans move on, and let’s pity the stupid vaccination vexators.