Nurses Professional Association of Queensland warns ‘plenty’ of nurses don’t want vaccinations

A breakaway Queensland nurses union has warned there will be “catastrophe” if the September 16 deadline for mandatory vaccination in the aged care sector isn’t extended or stopped.

A breakaway Queensland nurses union warns there will be “catastrophe” if the deadline for mandatory vaccination in the aged care sector isn’t extended or stopped.

Nurses Professional Association of Queensland secretary Aenghas Hopkinson-Pearson said the September 16 deadline placed aged-care residents at risk of losing quality care as shocking data revealed some Queensland nursing homes had fewer than 10 per cent of their staff vaccinated against Covid-19.

A survey of 1000 nurses with the union revealed 75 per cent believed Covid vaccination should not be mandatory and Mr Hopkinson-Pearson said the union had heard from “plenty” who didn’t want the jab.

Aged care nurses must get a Covid vaccination by September 16 under a national mandate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

He said NPAQ supported its 7600 members whether they chose to get the vaccine or not.

“Extending the deadline will provide time for more studies to come in around the vaccine and also just give nurses the chance to actually get the vaccine,” Mr Hopkinson-Pearson said.

“Would you prefer your parents to be in an aged care facility with the lights out or in a facility where a worker might not be vaccinated but is taking other measures such as wearing PPE?”

The NPAQ’s website states aged care residents who have chosen not to vaccinate should not be the reason that staff must vaccinate.

The union is gathering signatures for a petition to national cabinet to stop mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for aged care staff.

“The truth is it should be about individual choice,” Mr Hopkinson-Pearson said.

“Nurses are tertiary educated professionals who are more than qualified to make informed medical decisions, more so than myself or any bureaucrat.”

States and territories in June signed off on a mandate that all residential aged care workers have at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-September.

national cabinet agreed this would be mandated as a condition of working in an aged care facility through shared state, territory and Commonwealth authorities.

While the NPAQ states it will back its members in opting out of the jab “for whatever reason”, the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union is considering requests for support on a case-by-case basis.

The QNMU in a statement said it would provide support, such as assisting with appropriate redeployment, to members who haven’t been able to get the vaccine or those can’t get vaccinated due to legitimate medical or religious reasons.

“The QNMU strongly encourages all nurses, midwives and AINs to get vaccinated, and to meet evidence-based workplace immunisation requirements,” the statement said.

“ These requirements must recognise that vaccination may be medically contraindicated for some individuals.

“We will always recognise that individuals have the right to make personal choices about immunisation.

“However, there may be professional and industrial consequences for exercising that choice.”

Some Queensland nursing homes face losing the majority of their workforce in just a few weeks as data from the Health Department revealed 11 facilities across the state had 70 per cent of their workforce yet to get the vaccine as of last week.

Just 10 to 20 per cent of staff at Jeta Gardens Aged Care Facility this week had at least one dose of the vaccine.