Gold Coast health experts criticise Khemia HI Vibe Frequency Salon in Palm Beach for turning way people who've had the COVID-19 vaccine
Health experts are furious a Gold Coast hairdressing salon is asking people who've received a COVID-19 vaccine to stay away from the business for "health reasons".
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HEALTH experts say a Gold Coast hairdresser’s decision to stop servicing people who’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine is “absurd, ridiculous and causing a public health risk”.
Dr Sonu Haikerwal, of the Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic and Haan Health, said the actions of the business were irresponsible in the middle of a global pandemic and were undermining the efforts of hard working nurses, doctors and other health professionals.
“Even if one person is affected or harmed by their decision to make such a statement, then they should be liable,” she said.
“It’s a slap in the face to the health workers who’ve ensured the community remains free of COVID-19.”
Gold Coast Medical Association president Dr Philip Morris said it appeared the decision to stop servicing vaccinated people was not made using current health information.
“It would be wonderful if the hairdresser could meet up with public health staff to get properly brief and educated around the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination,” he said.
Dr Haikerwal said the decision was also discriminatory against people who’ve done the right thing and been vaccinated to ensure the safety of the community.
She said everyone should be rolling up their sleeves to have the vaccination as soon as possible because the borders would eventually open and COVID-19 would be impossible to keep out.
“When businesses are closed because of shutdowns, who do they rely on to help ensure the virus doesn’t spread, it’s certainly not hairdressers.”
EARLIER...
A GOLD COAST hairdressing salon has sparked a social media storm after asking people who have received a COVID-19 vaccination to stay away from the business.
Khemia HI Vibe Frequency Salon in Palm Beach, which also offers aromatherapy, “crystal healing” and “frequency technology and sound healing”, announced it would “not be servicing” people who have had the shot.
In a statement the business said the measure was taken for the “health and safety of staff and clients”.
“The unknown health effects of the mRNA vaccine are not covered by our public liability insurance,” the statement said.
“... Please notify us if you have had this injection before making an appointment with us.”
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Owner Yazmina Adler said her business had received “incredible support” for the decision.
“We’ve been inundated with amazing messages,” she said.
However others slammed the move.
“Congrats on a whole new brand of stupid,” wrote one critic.
Others questioned the impact on health workers.
“So just to confirm that the essential health workers, first responders and those working the front line in health that have to get this vaccine are not welcome in your salon?,” one person asked.
It is not the first time controversy over the COVID-19 vaccine has flared up on the Gold Coast, despite it being approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
In February, Bonney MP Sam O’Connor copped a furious backlash against a social media post welcoming news that the first jab had been administered on the Gold Coast.
It comes as medical experts warned Australia risks being hit by a deadly wave of COVID-19 cases after a poll carried out for Nine newspapers showed almost a third of Australians are reluctant to receive the vaccine.
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Dr Sonu Haikerwal, from the Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic, said the vaccine rollout had “stalled” and she had gone from vaccinating 200 people a day to just 40.
“It’s soul destroying, doctors have lost their power and the messaging from governments and media is creating fear and vaccination hesitancy,” she said.
It comes as the Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed it was investigating whether three cases of people developing blood clots in Australia — one of whom died — were linked to the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine.
The federal government last week named Pfizer as the “preferred” vaccine for under 50s.
AstraZeneca vaccinations were also put on hold in countries across Europe following reports of rare blood clots, low platelets and haemorrhage.
However, after a formal review, the European Medicines Agency and World Health Organisation said the overall risk for clotting was no higher than in the general population, that the benefits outweigh the risks and that vaccinations should continue.
Gold Coast Medical Association chairman Dr Philip Morris said more needed to be done by the federal and state governments to assure older Australians that the COVID-19 vaccines were safe, with risks extremely rare.
“At this rate the vaccination rollout is going to fall over because everybody is too fearful.”
Dr Haikerwal said people over 50 were now fearful of the AZ vaccine after relentless media reports about blood clots and daily health updates by politicians.
“We’ve got a completely safe and effective vaccine but no one wants it, they’re all waiting for the Pfizer, and we have no certainty around when we will receive doses of that,” she said.
“Doctors undertake a risk benefit analysis for every patient. In fact I’m now spending 30 minutes with each person explaining how the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.”
Dr Haikerwal said politicians were overstepping the mark in regards to giving out medical advice and there the risk of someone developing a blood clot were “extremely rare”.
“Before we administer the vaccine, we’ve already assessed a patient and their risk, this is what GPs do every single day.
“Australians haven’t faced real death as a result of COVID. If they had or spoke to someone from overseas they would be more willing to be vaccinated.
“GPs don’t want to be in PPE gear for another year, we just want to be able to do our job and want messaging that supports us doing our job, not creating mass vaccination hesitancy.
“We need to get the power back, be very calm and be very scientific. Patients need to know that even before they are worried, we have done our research and a risk analysis.”
Dr Morris said there were rare complications associated with every vaccine and that he’d seen reports in the American Journal of Hematology that US researchers had looked into a “possible relationship” between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine and the development of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
This is a rare auto-immune disorder, in which a person’s blood doesn’t clot properly, because the immune system destroys the blood-clotting platelets.
After reviewing 20 cases of patients with thrombocytopenia following vaccination, researchers found 17 did not have pre‐existing thrombocytopenia and 14 people with reported bleeding symptoms prior to hospitalisation.
Researchers summarised they “cannot exclude the possibility that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have the potential to trigger de novo ITP, including clinically undiagnosed cases”, but that the incidence of it was “well below the risk of death and morbidity from SARS‐CoV‐2 infection”.
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