Rita Panahi: Lack of transparency on Covid deaths only fuels mistrust

Victorians deserve to be treated like adults and furnished with all the facts on Covid deaths, not just ones that fit a particular narrative.

Why is the Andrews government concealing vital data from the public?

On Thursday the state reported 1,925 new cases and 25 Covid-19 deaths but authorities refused to give a breakdown of how many were fully or partially vaccinated.

Deputy chief health officer Ben Cowie said the data was available but “we’re not going to be reporting on that”.

That simply is not good enough. Every sensible person knows that Covid-19 vaccines provide a high level of protection against infection, hospitalisation and death but we also know that the vaccines do not stop infection, hospitalisation and death.

We understand that Covid-19 jabs are not like the measles vaccine where one is afforded close to 100 per cent immunity.

Victoria's Acting chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

Victorians deserve to be treated like adults and furnished with all the facts, not just ones that fit a particular narrative. Lack of transparency only fuels mistrust.

In contrast NSW has been forthcoming with data on Covid-19 deaths; the state recorded 293 cases on Thursday and two deaths, a fully vaccinated woman in her 90s and a partially vaccinated man in his 70s.

For 18 months we have listened to authorities indulge in relentless scaremongering and all it’s achieved is to frighten the bejesus out of low information individuals while simultaneously undermining the trust many informed Victorians previously had in the public health bureaucracy.

It’s high time we were trusted with the truth rather than fed a narrative to motivate certain behaviours.

BONEHEADED DAN COULD COST US MAJOR EVENTS

In a sane world whether Novak Djokovic is vaccinated or not would be nobody’s business but his own.

But we live in Victoria where vaccine passports will endure until 2023, according to Dear Leader Dan Andrews.

That means the world’s number one tennis player can forget about playing at the Australian Open unless he is double jabbed and willing to make public his vaccination status.

The Serbian superstar may not be the only top-line player missing the tournament; around two in five elite tennis players are not vaccinated, according to the BBC.

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