Our duty not to put other people at risk
Credit:Illustration: Andrew Dyson
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.VACCINATIONOur duty not to put other people at risk
It dismayed and saddened me to hear some church leaders advocating that unvaccinated people be allowed to attend church services when restrictions lift â€" “Church warns of ‘two-class societyâ€â€™ over vaccine rules†(The Age, 25/9). For 18 months we have heard from leaders in the fields of epidemiology, public health and medicine that vaccination is the only way our society can recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 virus.
Church leaders ought to be reminding their parishioners that being Christian brings a responsibility of loving and caring for your neighbours. In the current circumstances, this translates to getting vaccinated in order to protect not only yourself but others in your community too. It also translates to showing care and respect for our doctors and nurses who are so overburdened administering treatment to our unvaccinated population.
The very small number of people who genuinely cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons will need to continue with a “church online†format of worship. I am sure most will agree that this is a better option even for their own protection.
Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli should understand that mandatory vaccination is not the issue when it comes to a “two-class societyâ€. Vaccination is or will be available free of charge to all Australians. Those who are “hung up†on civil liberties and their right to choose not to be vaccinated are putting others at risk. They are also making the choice to exclude themselves from full participation in all our wonderful country has to offer.
Susan Barclay, North Balwyn
Sophie Froidevaux (The Age, 27/9) will not require people who attend her gymnasium to be vaccinated unless it is a legal requirement. Be careful Sophie: you may lose more customers because many who wish to attend your establishment may decide not to take the risk of being in contact with people who potentially have COVID-19.
Rod Watson, Brighton East
I am astounded that some small-business owners do not understand why they should only allow vaccinated patrons on their premises. Their responsibilities for the health and safety of their staff and customers should be front of mind.
Can’t they foresee the impact if staff or customers contract COVID-19, forcing the shutdown of their business, and negative reputational impact? Especially if some people become seriously ill. This is a pandemic. COVID-19 can make us seriously ill, or kill us. And it is already overloading our ambulance service and hospitals. We all have a responsibility to stop the spread and protect each other, business owners included.
Graeme Russell, Clifton Hill
Some experts warn that insisting people get vaccinated for COVID-19 in exchange for jobs or services risks entrenching disadvantage (The Age, 28/9). This is incorrect and misleading.
Whereas disadvantage generally stems from lack of opportunity, or financial power, or education, none of these factors are present in relation to being vaccinated. Just because there may be a lower rate of vaccination in certain suburbs at the moment, and these suburbs have a higher proportion of disadvantaged residents, it does not mean they are disadvantaged in getting vaccinated.
The vaccinations are free, everyone has equal opportunity to obtain them and you do not need education to access them. If vaccine passports are introduced, there will be no difference in a person obtaining one based on their education, wealth or postcode. In fact, the Victorian government is promoting vaccinations within some of the socially disadvantaged areas to improve the take-up.
David Ford, Camberwell
Holly Lawford-Smith (Opinion, 27/9) says the objections to vaccination given by the two women she spoke to â€" one of them being that COVID-19 had not been around long enough for longitudinal studies on the vaccines’ effects â€" are “reasonableâ€, although she adds their concern may be “misguidedâ€.
What if we all waited until that happened? Then there would be no one to be studied. What they are saying is “we want to know if the vaccine is safe for everyone else before we will consider having itâ€. That is as unreasonable (and selfish) as I have ever heard.
Don Jordan, Mount Waverley
Hopefully, one of the lessons learnt from the pandemic, especially in relation to the question of vaccination, is the importance of critical thinking skills and the need to develop these as an essential component of the school curriculum.
Marcia Roche, Mill Park
Now that Victoria is recording more daily COVID-19 cases (with significant less testing) than NSW, are those correspondents who were quick to praise Daniel Andrews and condemn Gladys Berejiklian on their handling of this third wave still keeping score?
Lindsay Cooper, Brighton East
I am a crippled, elderly woman who uses two walking sticks. I wear my mask and my shirt with “Fully Vaxxed†written on it because they reassure others and amuse them when I walk and shop. Now, I have been warned that to do so is dangerous because of recent assaults on law-abiding people like me. I will not be intimidated by mindless bullies and cowards. Is this not a shameful situation to find myself in in Australia?
Name withheld, Camberwell
There has been an enormous build-up of stress in the past 18 months and once restrictions are lifted, these fracture lines will widen dramatically when an us and them/vaxxed and unvaxxed community is created. If unrest continues, our only option will be to look to our leaders to maintain order. But with social media feeding and fuelling public opinion, and our leaders being referred to with emotive terms and name calling, it will make their job so much harder.
Whether we agree with them or not, they are what we have right now, and this negative rhetoric needs to stop. Inflammatory name-calling only serves to create a rift in our community at a time when we should be standing together. Let our leaders do their job and judge them at the ballot box.
Noel Richardson, Mitcham
Thank you for your series, “Local heroesâ€. The first thing I want to get to when I open The Age every morning is this. A simple reminder that there is so much good in our community. Thank you for highlighting this. Praise be.
Trang Nguyen, Sunshine North
Paul Keating’s piece (Opinion, 29/9) is a wonderful reminder of a time when our prime ministers had a vision and understood the need to work within our region. It has been 25 years since we have had a prime minister with Keating’s ability to communicate the issues and the humour is the icing on the cake. Come back, Paul, as by world leadership age standards, you are a spring chicken.
Viviane King, Milawa
While John Hewson, Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating turn their considerable intellects to analysing the big strategic choices facing Australia, Scott Morrison stands smirking on the steps of Number 10 waving a packet of Tim Tams and Anthony Albanese asks himself what the bloke at the pub thinks. How on earth did it come to this?
Kairen Harris, Brunswick
We watched The Drum (ABC TV) this week about the fire situation in our country. It is inevitable that fires and devastation will happen again and again. Hundreds and hundreds of homes will be destroyed and whole communities will be lost. Worse will be the loss of life. Why spend billions on nuclear submarines when 100 water helicopters would save homes and lives? Also if new dams were built strategically. Where is our compassion? Who is going to move on this?
Tui and Jim Beggs, North Balwyn
A curse on companies and government departments which are too cheap to hire enough telephone staff so we have to wait for hours on hold. An extra curse on those which do not tell us at the start whether the wait will be two minutes, two hours or infinite. And more curses on those which don’t offer, “Please leave a message and we’ll get back to youâ€. More curses to the designers of websites who make the process unnecessarily complicated, hide the important tabs and instructions in small type in some obscure position, and tell us that we have done something wrong but do not tell us what. You have only so much public goodwill, and when we get angry you lose it.
Marilyn Hewish, Darley
The Prime Minister may not attend the Glasgow conference on November with other heads of state owing to other priorities. Who or what organisation would attempt to organise a meeting with him around that time?
Howard Brownscombe, Brighton
As a Glaswegian, I feel it is probably best if Scott Morrison does not go to Glasgow. It will be too much of a head spin for him to be in a country where everyone enjoys free entry to art galleries and museums, tertiary education and if you want to send your kids to a school outside of the government system (if you can find one) â€" you pay the lot. He definitely will not want to see the charging points for electric vehicles sited outside government buildings and hooked up next to parking meters.
Simon Clegg, Donvale
Nancy Pelosi, like millions of Australians we have invested in solar panels for our homes. I can assure you that our Prime Minister had nothing to do with it.
Lawrence Ingvarson, Canterbury
Why not get the $13 billion back from those businesses that made a profit out of the JobKeeper cash splash and give it to the coal miners who lose their jobs?
David Moore, Kew
Why is a trustworthy, clever and sensible person like Darren Chester being forced to consider his position in Parliament ( The Age, 27/9?) Don’t leave the “circus†to the clowns, Darren, we need you more than ever.
Paul Chivers, Box Hill North
At 53 years old, this was the first year I have ever watched the AFL grand final. What a brilliant game. It gave my family and me much needed joy in lockdown.
I stopped being an active AFL supporter when I was told, as a child, that I could not play professionally because of my sex. I stopped engaging with the AFL when I was told I would be very unlikely to be employed in any high level, professional role in any club because of my gender.
So despite enjoying the grand final, and the fact that I am thrilled there is now the AFLW, I will not be a paid-up member of a club, pay to attend a game, watch or listen to footy commentary or commercially support the AFL until there is pay equality between the AFLW and AFL and equal gender representation throughout the AFL. I will use my purse to fan the flames to melt the glass ceiling.
Kimberley Grieger, Berwick
My letterbox, empty on Tuesday, yesterday contained a leaflet featuring special offers if I take out insurance policies with Australia Post online â€" along with a large bundle of letters, some dated more than three weeks earlier. Is this service typical of the efficiency I may expect if I trust Australia Post in “delivering new, great value home and car insuranceâ€? I would prefer it if they concentrated on their mandate to deliver mail.
Keith Tupper, Macleod
Re “Vape rules will drive smokers back to old habits†(Opinion, 27/9). From October 1, people who want to use vaping products containing nicotine as a means to quitting smoking will be able to do so under medical guidance through obtaining a prescription.
This decision brings the importation rules into the line with state and territory regulations. We are taking measures to protect children and others from unrestricted access to vaping imports, which are already banned for sale in Australia without prescription.
New Medicare rebates started in July for face-to-face, telehealth and phone consultations to support smoking cessation. Already, this new item has been used over 1000 times. Any of Australia’s almost 100,000 registered medical practitioners may currently prescribe nicotine containing e-cigarettes that can be used by consumers for personal importation.
It is ultimately up to a doctor whether prescribing products is medically appropriate. It should be noted that the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ smoking cessation guidelines state that nicotine-vaping products are not first-line treatments for smoking cessation. While I understand that these decisions are often contentious, they are made in the best interests of overall public health based on the expert medical advice.
Greg Hunt, Minister for Health
After reading Craig Kelly’s full-page letter (The Age, 24/9) I responded to the email address, not to join the United Australia Party but to comment about his statements. I pushed “send†and up came a message telling me that my email had failed because it was an invalid email address. Strange.
Greg Bardin, Altona North
It would be more sensible to invest in firefighting aircraft now rather than submarines in the future when they’re likely to be obsolete.
Noel McKinnon, Frankston
It’s hard to take a lecture from Bridget McKenzie on values.
Graham Parton, Beechworth
Chester is too honest and skilful to be wasting his time with the Nationals.
Mark Hill, Middle Park
Vote 1 Paul Keating (29/9) for prime minister.
John Harris, Williamstown
Whoopee. At last we’ve got something bigger and better than NSW â€" more daily case numbers.
Myra Fisher, Brighton East
Andrews’ road map is ridden with too many no-through roads, roundabouts and one-way streets.
Antonia Romanidis, Caulfield North
I can’t understand why anyone would refuse to accept a vaccine that might save their life or protect others.
Carole Nicholls, Surrey Hills
Why the fuss about exclusions for unvaccinated adults? Children can’t go to childcare unless they’re vaccinated.
Jennifer Monger, Benalla
“We’re talking about the future of humanity itself†(Editorial, 29/9). Could Joyce, McKenzie, Canavan et al read and reflect on that powerful comment.
Tim Douglas, Blairgowrie
Clearly McKenzie sees there’s sport in claiming zero net emissions are a rort.
Andrew McFarland, Templestowe
Many countries have carbon emissions schemes. Australia has a carbon omissions scheme.
Pete Sands Monbulk
Is Morrison reluctant to go to Glasgow because he plans to announce an election date in November, for December?
Mike Puleston, Brunswick
Climate change or ScoMo’s job? What is the priority?
David Baker, Parkdale
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