Anti-vaxxers resort to bribes and abuse in attempt to avoid Covid vaccines

Health care workers are speaking out about the outrageous lengths anti-vaxxers are now going to in an effort to game the system.

Anti-vaxxers are reportedly going to extreme lengths to attempt to beat the system, even offering bribes to healthcare staff.

With Covid vaccines mandatory for certain industries and harsh restrictions remaining in place for the unvaccinated in the months ahead, those desperate to avoid the jab are allegedly resorting to abusing staff and even offering eye-watering sums to medics to lie about their vaccination status.

Dr Karen Price, President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, told 3AW a colleague had been offered a pile of cash to “tip a vaccine down a drain” and then record that they had vaccinated the patient, which the doctor refused to do.

Dr Price said valid exemptions for the jab were “vanishingly rare”, but that she believed mandating them had got some offside.

“The word ‘mandated’ immediately gets some people’s backs up,” she said.

“People are becoming quite desperate about this whole issue and it’s become politicised and obviously linked to workforce.

“There’s a lot on the line for a lot of people but sadly a lot of them are misinformed.”

A string of other Victorian healthcare workers also came forward with similar stories, with one unnamed nurse telling The Age there had been a significant increase in abuse, threats and bribes offered.

There are reports that health care staff are being offered thousands of dollars in bribes to lie about people’s vaccination status. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Adam Yip

“People are becoming quite frustrated and angry about the fact they are being forced to get a vaccine, and they are taking it out on the staff,” the nurse told the publication, adding colleagues had been offered $1500 to “say they have given somebody a vaccine, but not actually give it to them”.

“Of course nobody has done it or would ever do it,” the worker continued.

“But there have even been reports of thousands of dollars being offered to my colleagues to sign off legal clearances so they can return to work unvaccinated.”

The nurse also claimed people were buying forged vaccination certificates online.

Victoria was originally predicted to hit its 70 per cent double vaccination goal on October 26, but is now expected to reach the milestone a few days earlier on Friday, October 22, which could see an easing of restrictions brought forward.

At the moment, around 60.4 per cent of Victorians over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated, with at least 86.2 per cent having had their first dose.

There has also been an increase in abuse towards health workers. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

But sadly, Covid-19 deaths surged in Victoria on Wednesday, with 13 fatalities and 1571 cases confirmed in the 24 hours to midnight.

A Department of Health spokesperson told news.com.au in a statement abuse of healthcare workers was unacceptable.

“Our dedicated and hardworking healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to get as many vaccinations in people’s arms as possible so we can all get back to doing the things we love,” the statement reads.

“We absolutely condemn any acts of abuse or aggression towards staff – this behaviour is never acceptable.

“Vaccination is our ticket out of this pandemic and we call on everyone to be respectful to our teams as their continue their amazing work.”

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns about Australia’s vaccine passports, with one expert telling news.com.au the certificates could be “easily forged”.

But security expert Vanessa Teague, from the Australian National University, said both the NSW and Victoria vaccine passports and Medicare certificates “don’t prove anything”, which makes it hard to “justify checking them when they are easily fabricated”.

“There are not really meaningful security features in any versions we have seen in Australia, with possibly the exception being for international travel,” she told news.com.au.

“Otherwise they have nothing to verify that the vaccine passport or certificate is authentic.”

Originally published as Anti-vaxxers resort to bribes and abuse in attempt to avoid Covid vaccines