Victoria’s vaccine rules likely to discourage jabs, Nick Coatsworth says

Daniel Andrews’ attempt to block unvaccinated people from society and extend emergency powers will do more harm than good, says Dr Nick Coatsworth.

Victoria’s push to exclude non-vaccinated Australians from much of society is likely to be counter-productive and “rust people on to their anti-vaccine views”, according to a leading infectious diseases specialist who says that NSW’s approach strikes a better balance.

On Sunday, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced that his state would continue to restrict unvaccinated individuals from most of civil society through at least 2022 even though Covid-19 vaccination rates in the state are expected to top out at over 90 per cent.

Counter-productive... Victorian Premier Dan Andrews. Picture : NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“Whether it’s a bookshop, a shoe shop, a pub, cafe, a restaurant, the MCG, the list goes on and on. You will not be able to participate like a fully vaccinated person because you’re not a fully vaccinated person,” Andrews said.

But according to former deputy chief medical officer Prof Nick Coatsworth, excluding people like this is likely to cause more problems than it solves.

“To suggest that for an entire year when your vaccination rates are likely to be above 90 per cent that there are things you would exclude people from participating in for that period of time is likely to rust people on to their opposition to vaccines,” he said.

“If you wanted to encourage people to believe that the government was against you if you didn’t get the vaccine, this is exactly how you would be have.”

Prof Coatsworth said that while he agreed that vaccine passports were useful as a short-term encouragement to get society through the transition phase, “there is a balance to be struck in public policy between legislating to encourage vaccination and exclusion from participation in society.”

Critical.... Deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth.

Along with excluding unvaccinated people from much of society for a year, the Andrews government is also introducing legislation that would allow it almost unlimited pandemic powers.

Victoria’s draft emergency powers proposed by the government would allow officials to discriminate against people for any reason, including “their characteristics, attributes, or circumstances.”

The Victorian push to increase its powers stands in contrast to NSW’s approach.

As of December 1, the government will stop restricting unvaccinated peoples’ access to shopping, hospitality, home visits, events, and a host of other activities.

The government is also understood to be considering whether it will continue its QR code check-in regime past that date.

Victor Dominello, the minister responsible for the scheme, has previously indicated it would like to do as soon as safely practicable saying, “you’ve got to know when to turn QR codes on, but just as importantly, you’ve got to know when to turn them off.”

Prof Coatsworth said that while with one in 10 people unvaccinated, there can still be a significant impact on health services, “you manage that by funding your health system, not by restricting the bulk of society.”

“Saying this stuff doesn’t make you some libertarian ‘Freedom Day’ person, it just makes you someone who is interested in balancing public health imperatives with a normal, functioning society,” he said.