Herd immunity at risk as parents avoid jabs

This clipping is from the August 31 issue of The Australian Digital Edition. To subscribe, visit https://www.theaustralian.com.au/.

Kirby caveat on use of emergency powers
Australian - Monday, 31 Aug 2020 - Page 5

Doctors are warning that Victoria’s herd immunity is at risk after a survey found that one-in-five routine childhood vaccinations were cancelled, with 40 per cent of parents blaming the coronavirus .

Issuing a plea to families on Sunday, National Child Health Poll director Anthea Rhodes said about two-third of parents in June alone had cancelled or delayed their children’s scheduled vaccinations at the Royal Melbourne’s Children’s Hospital’s immunisation centre.

A national survey conducted by the RMCH found that more than 40 per cent of parents said they cancelled their children’s shots because of fears of contracting COVID-19 at the healthcare clinic, while 28 per cent said they had too many other things to worry about.

“Some families are of the misunderstanding that because their children aren’t exposed to other kids, they’re not at risk of contracting some of those vaccine preventable diseases,” Dr Rhodes said.

The survey found one-in-five scheduled vaccinations for children aged five or under had been delayed or cancelled, while about a third of kids who’d been injured or unwell had their healthcare delayed because of the pandemic.

Under stage-four restrictions in Victoria, children must learn remotely while parents work from home.

Dr Rhodes said Victoria’s herd immunity would be compromised if too many parents allowed their children to fall behind on their vaccination schedule, meaning the state could see outbreaks of chickenpox, measles and whooping cough when restrictions lifted.

“If our community as a whole is not up to date with vaccinations, we risk the herd immunity coming down and that means we can see outbreaks,” she said.

The RMCH survey found 19 per cent of parents cancelled or delayed getting their children vaccinated because their GP was not offering shots because of COVID-19 while 17 per cent said they were scared of contracting the virus on the way to the doctor.

Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice Richard Kidd said parents who delayed vaccinations were putting their children at risk of infection and leaving the community vulnerable to outbreaks . “Parents who delay vaccinating their children are relying on everyone else to do the right thing to keep the herd immunity up,” he said.

“They haven’t thought it through and are actually making their children most immediately at risk of infections.”

Amy van Bekkum, who has eight-month-old twins, said she’d made sure she had her children vaccinated according to schedule, saying she trusted her doctor to keep their clinic free of COVID-19 . “We’ve had the twins vaccinated on the exact day that they’re due to be vaccinated,” she said. “I’ve been really staunch about that just because I don’t want them to get behind in their vaccinations.”

Leanne Badcock, who is 24-weeks’ pregnant, made sure her two-year-old daughter, Penelope, had a flu shot this year, saying it was especially important amid the pandemic.

“The risk of a little one getting the flu … would be scary at the best of times but in this particular climate , I just would hate for her to go to hospital or have any complications , let alone COVID,” she said. “In the current environment, I just want to make sure I’m protecting her in anyway I can.”

Victoria recorded 114 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state’s total number of active cases to 2830.

Copyright © 2020 News Pty Limited
Former High Court judge Michael Kirby has said Australia should be doing more to “invigorate and involve” parliament in scrutinising the use of emergency and disaster powers.

He said parliament needed to be “questioning” in its role so that it did not become a “tame servant” of the executive arm of government.

His call comes after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews last week announced he wished to extend the time limit that applies to emergency powers from six months to 18 months.

The move triggered a backlash from the opposition and warnings from legal experts about the need for parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr Andrews has reportedly struck a deal with crossbench MPs in Victoria’s upper house to give him a one-off six-month extension to his state of emergency powers beyond September 14.

Mr Kirby said parliament was best placed to scrutinise and review the use of emergency and disaster powers and this could be done in a number of ways, including through the use of parliamentary committees. “Emergency and disaster powers could be best kept under scrutiny and review by the legislature,” he said.

“This can be done by appointing parliamentary committees; adopting sunset clauses; and specifically establishing parliamentary committees to receive regular reports and review proportionality and continuation of exceptional emergency powers.”

There were analogies between terrorism legislation and emergency and disaster powers, he said. The bipartisan parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security has responsibility for reviewing national security legislation and oversees Australia’s primary intelligence agencies. However, parliament needed to be “more questioning” to perform this role effectively.

“We should be doing more to invigorate and involve our elected parliament,” he said. “But parliament needs to be more questioning and well advised in performing such functions.

“Otherwise it simply becomes a tame servant of the executive, which is a common weakness of parliamentary democracies of the Westminster system.”

The state of emergency, first declared on March 16, gives Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton extraordinary legal powers to impose lockdown measures and rules such as mask wearing.

Under the state of disaster, declared on August 2, the police minister can override legislation.

Police also have the power to enter premises without a warrant.

Rule of Law Institute of Australia president Robin Speed said there had not been proper checks and balances applied to lockdown measures, such as the curfew and 5km travel limit in Melbourne. He said health advice should have been released to justify the steps and debate in parliament.

Constitutional law professor Cheryl Saunders has said once the crisis eases, a proper look at emergency procedures was needed to ensure governments could responded swiftly while ensuring appropriate checks and balances were in place.

Search form

Herd immunity at risk as parents avoid jabs