‘Very few’ exempt from a Covid-19 vaccine

While thousands of Australians are demanding medical exemptions, only a ‘vanishingly rare’ few have been accepted as having a valid reason to avoid the jab.

The Australian can reveal just 0.005pc of all vaccinations have resulted in a medical contraindication. Picture: AFP

While thousands of Australians are demanding medical exemptions from their doctor to avoid getting the Covid-19 vaccine, only a “vanishingly rare” few have been accepted as having a valid reason to avoid the jab.

The Australian can reveal just 0.005pc of all vaccinations have resulted in a medical contraindication – where patients have had an adverse reaction to a vaccine, or have an illness resulting in significant immunocompromise that requires them to forgo a vaccine. That’s about 1600 people.

As of October 6, there were only 164 permanent medical contraindications reported to the Australian Immunisation Registry for Covid-19. There were a further 763 “time-limited” contraindications where individuals were granted an exemption limited to a certain date.

One person may be recorded three times for each vaccine available in Australia, as contraindications are reported per individual vaccine.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price says there may be some delays to vaccinations based on medical conditions, but it will be almost impossible for an individual to be eligible for a complete exemption.

While there are chemicals in each vaccine that can cause anaphylaxis, such as polyethylene glycol or polysorbate, it is extremely rare for someone to be allergic to both, Dr Price told The Australian.

“It’s vanishingly rare for there to be a medical exemption for all of the vaccines. If you can’t have one (vaccine) you should be able to have the other,” Dr Price said.

“Chronic disease conditions are more vulnerable to Covid disease.”

With deadlines passed or fast approaching for many workers to be vaccinated, and fully vaccinated residents already enjoying more freedoms than the unvaccinated in NSW, doctors are increasingly facing threats and abuse from angry patients denied exemptions. Some anti-vaccination groups have falsely claimed “acute major anxiety caused by threat of a mandatory medical procedure” is a valid reason for exemption.

But doctors want to make it clear anxiety and vaccine hesitancy do not entitle individuals to a medical exemption.

Head of general practice at Sydney’s Notre Dame University, Charlotte Hespe, said GPs had received abuse and passive-aggressive behaviour from patients denied exemptions.

“There’s a lot of very stressed GPs that have experienced some very poor behaviour from patients recently. At the end of the day, it’s not their fault,” said Dr Hespe “It’s been very stressful for everybody. I can’t make your choice into a medical exemption certificate.”

Last week police were forced to attend a doctor’s clinic in Colac, in regional Victoria, where up to 100 people were allegedly queuing for a Covid vaccine exemption.

As a result the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency issued a public warning to GPs about providing unreasonable exemptions, saying they risk having their registration suspended.

Although exemption figures are not available for most categories of workers, a report obtained by The Australian shows that, nationally, there have been 725 exemptions granted in residential aged care, 202 of those in South Australia. Victoria is second with 181 exemptions.