Susie O’Brien: Anti-vaxxers are the one thing stopping Australia from getting out of the pandemic

If Australians would all do their duty and get vaccinated, our country could start to open up and recover economically and socially.

Everyone who can get vaccinated has an obligation to do so.

Shortsighted people who refuse to get the vaccine even though it’s safe for them are holding back Australia’s progress out of the pandemic.

While there are some people who have a legitimate medical reason not to get a jab – particularly the AstraZeneca vaccine – the vast majority of people are just waiting it out.

New figures suggest one third of people are in no hurry to get a jab, fearing the vaccine more than the disease.

Many also feel no compulsion to protect themselves while international borders remain closed. They reason that they’ve got no overseas trips planned, so what’s the point?

This is because we’ve got just about zero community transmission across the country and stories in the media every day about blood clots in immunised people.

The vaccine does come with some risks, but these are minor compared to the risks posed by the disease.

We can’t stay locked up forever, as some people seem to wish.

Our country will remain Fortress Australia until we reach herd immunity with vaccination rates reaching 70 to 80 per cent.

So far just 64,000 people in this state have been fully vaccinated, and centres are hardly over run with people.

Melburnian Terry Miles gets his vaccination at the Showgrounds. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

The federal government has said it’s administered three million doses of the vaccine, but there is some scepticism about this. We are one of the only countries in the world to refuse to release daily immunisation updates.

At this rate it will take us years to reach herd immunity.

Compare this to Canada, where 19 million doses of the vaccine have been administered out of a population of about 38 million people.

We need to listen to experts like Professor Robert Booy, a senior fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, who says that without vaccination rates of at least 70 per cent, we will continue to be affected by new outbreaks.

At some point our country needs to open up and learn to live with the virus. Jane Hrdlicka from Virgin could have chosen her words more carefully, but she is right.

There is a risk people will lose their lives from the virus, but that risk is already present for other similar diseases. Nearly 500 people die of the flu each year, for instance.

The only thing that makes a difference is having a fully vaccinated population.

There is still a small risk the disease will be fatal, but it is much, much lower. We will not see a repeat of the scenes in aged care homes where nearly 1000 people died.

The Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton is now a vaccination centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

People eligible for the vaccine but hesitant to get the jab should talk to their GP or other medical professionals rather than rely on rumour-mongering from friends.

Many of those who are over 50 but haven’t yet made an appointment to get the Asta-Zeneca vaccine are waiting for the 45 million Moderna and Pfizer doses to arrive later in the year.

This is a risky course of action. With other countries banning Asta-Zeneca altogether, more pressure is being placed on Pfizer stocks internationally.

There is no guarantee Australia will get its full shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on time at the end of the year.

A fully vaccinated population would allow people from this country to travel overseas and quarantine at home under strict supervision. Not only does the vaccine make people less likely to get sick from the disease, but they are less likely to pass it on to anyone else.

It’s all very well for the Prime Minister to say he’s not going to take risk with Australian lives, but there is no need for him to do so.

If people would do their duty and get vaccinated, our country could start to open up and recover economically and socially.