Nick Coatsworth slams AMA for criticising Covid vaccine booster program

Australia’s doctor’s union has come under fire from a former top doctor for its commentary on the nation’s Covid booster program.

Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth has slammed the national doctor’s union for talking down the country’s response to Omicron, accusing the Australian Medical Association of being a “peanut gallery”.

Dr Coatsworth, who has been critical of the doomsaying predictions offered by the AMA, was responding to a claim by the group that “Australia’s Covid-19 booster program is falling behind, risking more suffering … and a repeat of mistakes seen overseas.”

“Three weeks into the Omicron variant, the peanut gallery association decides we’re behind again. How are those memberships going?”, Dr Coatsworth tweeted, referring to the declining relevance and membership of the AMA.

Doctor Nick Coatsworth has slammed the national doctor’s union. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

In 1962, more than 95 per cent of doctors were members of the AMA.

Today, the number is closer to one in four.

According to the AMA, Australia is falling behind in its ability to deliver booster shots to deal with the Omicron variant, however evidence from around the world suggests that the new strain may be more transmissible but in most cases causes less severe disease.

Three weeks into the omicron variant, the peanut gallery association decides we’re behind again. How are those memberships going? #auspol #covid19aus https://t.co/MRYeOKcSgT

— Dr. Nick Coatsworth (@nick_coatsworth) December 15, 2021

The group – often called the “doctor’s union” – has frequently been criticised for its political stances.

Even before the pandemic, it was regularly taking positions on issues such as same-sex marriage, climate change, and refugees.

In October, the Victorian branch of the AMA outraged medical ethicists when it suggested that anti-vaxxers and Covid deniers should go out of the public health system and “let nature run its course”.

The Victorian AMA branch president later walked back his remarks.