Hobart cop in battle for compensation after getting sick from Covid vaccine

A Hobart police officer is locked in a battle with the state government for compensation after he fell ill from the Pfizer Covid vaccine. HIS BATTLE>>>

A HOBART police officer is fighting for compensation after becoming ill with myocarditis and respiratory issues from the Pfizer Covid vaccine.

The police officer has remained incapacitated from work since receiving his booster shot in November last year.

But his employer – the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management – argued it wasn’t liable to pay workers compensation because his work hadn’t been a significant contributing factor to his illness.

It argued vaccinations were not mandatory at the time the police officer got his shots and became sick.

In its newly-published decision, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal said a consultant physician assessed the police officer as “perfectly well before the first Pfizer injection”, which he received in March 2021.

The doctor said the police officer developed a migraine with dizziness and nausea, returning to work on a night shift 18 hours later.

When he had his third Pfizer injection in November, he became ill with dizziness, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, coughing fits, choking, and pain on breathing.

The officer remained incapacitated from work since receiving his booster shot.

He continued to be unwell throughout December and January before presenting to the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department on January 25 with chest pain.

An MRI later appeared to show he’d developed an area of myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle.

A cardiologist diagnosed him post Pfizer vaccination reaction/syndrome, a small area of myocarditis, an undiagnosed respiratory condition, aggravation of migraine and a psychological reaction.

The police officer said he’d completed his three shots shortly before vaccination became mandated for Tasmania Police officers, when a first jab was required by December last year.

He said even before the mandate, members of the force had been “strongly encouraged” to be vaccinated to “protect ourselves, our family and the community”.

The officer said he understood some of his colleagues had been issued with a “please explain” as to why they hadn’t been vaccinated, before it was even mandated.

He said disciplinary action had been “foreshadowed” for unvaccinated members of the force.

Tribunal senior member Lucinda Jack said under cross-examination, the worker said if he went back in time, he would not have been vaccinated against Covid, adding he’d had personal hesitations in relation to the safety of the vaccine.

Ms Jack said the department had established a “reasonably arguable” case to dispute its liability.

The matter will be determined at a future date in a final hearing.

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