Qantas to require Covid vaccine on international flights: Anti-vaxxers attack online polls

An angry online campaign has been orchestrated by anti-vaxxers in a bid to attack the Qantas compulsory coronavirus jab policy.

Anti-vaxxer groups are attempting to rig online polls asking the public if they agree with a Qantas Airlines policy for all international travellers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Groups with tens of thousands of followers have been urging their fans to flood Australian polls and influence the results, with overseas anti-vaxxers vowing to never visit Australia.

Anti vaccination Facebook page Reignite Democracy Australia told its 49,000 followers to vote on a poll on A Current Affair’s Instagram page, which asked “will you take the vaccine to travel internationally?”

Screenshots taken on Tuesday showed the poll results showed 89 per cent “no” and 11 per cent “yes”.

Bragging about the result, a post on the page claimed the group had helped boost the “no” response from 72 per cent to 88 per cent.

“From 72% NO a few hours ago to 88%! Take note Scott Morrison and Qantas,” a post on the group’s Facebook page said.

The group shared another link, urging their followers to keep voting on the poll via the page’s Instagram.

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Anti vaxxer groups have been working to rig online polls about vaccine attitudes.

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“Why the hell would you want too (sic) be vaccinated for a virus that has a 99% survival rate,” one man commented on the post.

“Here is your vaccine,” another said, posting a meme with a photo of vegetables.

“I’m done being polite to political criminals,” another said.

A number of comments on the post were homophobic and threatened violence against the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

On Tuesday morning, the page also encouraged its followers to vote on a poll posted by Channel 9’s Today Facebook page, saying “comments are far too positive … we have to change that!”

“I won’t be travelling with Quantas (sic) and it’s a person’s choice what they’ll have done medically and not the choice of globalists and their ridiculous agendas,” one person commented.

“This is all part of a planned genocide,” another said.

“Never new Qantas transported sheep,” another commented. “Wake up people you are test dummies for the government.”

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The anti-vaxxer group has been outraged by Qantas' announcement of a requirement for international travellers to be vaccinated.

Qantas CEO Mr Joyce made the ‘no vaccination, no flight’ announcement in an interview with A Current Affair on Monday evening.

“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travellers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft,” Mr Joyce said.

Medical misinformation Facebook groups have also seized on a travel booking group’s decision to not sell Qantas flights due to the airline’s new vaccination policy.

UK-based Tradewinds Travel wrote on Twitter, “We have made a company decision today to not sell any @Qantas flights, even on a code share, following their announcement of no vaccination, no flight.

“There are far superior airlines with flights to Australia.

“We will apply the same criteria across the board for all airlines.”

US Facebook group “Hear This Well”, which regularly shares coronavirus misinformation to their 50,000 followers, shared the post with the caption, “Shots fired” with a celebration emoji.

Others have jumped on a UK travel group's supposed boycott of Qantas.

The post had more than 2500 reactions and 130 comments from people supporting the travel agency’s decision.

“Bye bye Qantas … Bye bye Australia! There are much more better airlines that I could use and much better countries to visit then Australia,” one man from the US wrote.

“I guess I won’t be seeing my Aussie cousins anytime soon,” another woman wrote.

“It’s time to take a stand the mark of the beast is coming,” another said.

All of the vaccines that have showed positive results in phase three trials are yet to be approved by regulators.

Despite the tight time frame for production, companies insist they are safe due to the unprecedented global collaboration that has been achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Australia, any vaccine approved for use will have to clear hurdles set by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

News.com.au has contacted Facebook for a comment.

Originally published as Qantas to require Covid vaccine on international flights: Anti-vaxxers attack online polls