On Monday night, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the federal cabinet had finally decided to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all aged care workers.
All aged care workers must have had at least their first vaccine dose by mid-September 2021. This is to be “a condition of working in a residential aged care facility”, Scott Morrison said in the press conference.
The vaccine will be tracked using the same system used for mandatory flu vaccinations.
It was the third time the cabinet had considered this issue, but only now has the advice allowed the move.
However, Morrison noted that the government will monitor the aged care workers’ vaccination situation closely, and there will be a report on the matter in early August.
“We need to make sure that there are no unintended consequences of this decision,” he said.
The government has committed $11 million to support aged care workers to take time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
They would “leave the aged care sector”
Aged care workers have expressed their thoughts about the vaccine being made mandatory.
On HelloCare’s Aged Care Worker Support Group, many have defended their right to choose to be vaccinated, questioning the need to be forced.
Some make the point that all residents are vaccinated at their homes, making the need for staff to also be vaccinated less pressing.
One member of the group put up a poll asking for members, who are all aged care workers, to share their thoughts.
But 33% said they were “happy” to get the vaccine, and 21% said even they weren’t pleased about being forced into vaccination, but they would comply in order to keep working in aged care.
“It’s not possible”
Mark Sewell, Chief Executive Officer of aged care provider Warrigal, wrote on HelloCare’s website that leaving aged care staff to organise vaccines themselves will not work, and in-house clinics are needed to ensure all staff are vaccinated.
“It’s not possible to achieve this,” Sewell wrote of the vaccine being mandatory for aged care staff.
“Clinics in each aged care home, like the residents had, would achieve about 80% of staff. That’s what’s needed, not a rule that can’t be delivered,” he added.
Will homes be left short-staffed?
Leading Age Services Australia issued a statement to say the decision to make vaccination of aged care workers mandatory reinforces the need to ensure doses are readily available and staff are supported to be vaccinated.
With only 33% of residential aged care staff vaccinated, “much more” information is needed, said LASA CEO, Sean Rooney.
“We must ensure that staff numbers and care standards are not compromised.”
Rooney said there are still questions about the mandatory vaccine program, such as exceptions for staff who can’t be vaccinated, whether GPs, allied health, volunteers and family members need to be vaccinated, and if home care staff have to get the jab, too.
Rooney noted the $11 million additional funding to support staff to take up the vaccine, but said more information about the payments is needed.
“Staff also need to feel supported rather than forced to be vaccinated,” Rooney stated.
Staff too dedicated to leave
Ciarán Foley, Chief Executive Officer of Allambie Heights aged care home in Sydney, which is currently in lockdown due to the Sydney outbreak, said he was disappointed to learn the vaccine had been made mandatory for staff through the media, not through government health departments.
It’s “very frustrating,” he said.
Generally, the response has been “overwhelming support” for the move, though there are concerns the decision has come at a “bad time” while Sydney is in lockdown.
However, Foley does not believe staff will leave the sector.
“Our staff are very dedicated to their residents, to their colleagues and to their employers.
“We have demonstrated over many years that we are flexible, adaptable and responsible and able to overcome so many challenges. This is another one and we will rise to it,” he added.
Foley said an information campaign in support of vaccination is urgently needed.
Younger staff in particular may not access “the usual” media sources, and may be more likely to be exposed to misinformation, he explained.
“Language barriers” also made it difficult for some staff to access accurate and informed information about vaccination.
“We’ve got to simplify the message,” he said.
More stories such as the one about the West Hoxton party, where the seven guests who had received one or two doses of the vaccine were the only ones not to contract COVID-19, inspire confidence in the vaccine.
“Vaccination is now mandatory. Let’s get on with the program. We’ve proven when the flu vaccinations were made mandatory we can get across this, and we will.”
What do you think about the government’s decision to make it mandatory for all aged care workers to have the COVID-19 vaccine? Share your thoughts with us below.
I think it’s disgusting it should be every individuals choice whether to receive it or not
Not every resident in our facility has it nor do their family members how is that going to stop COVID spreading in our tiny town
It IS an individual’s choice.
If they CHOOSE to work in Aged Care then they need to be vaccinated.
Elderly bodies do not produce antibodies to disease at the same rate as younger people, so need staff to be the firewall between them and any viruses coming into the facility.
Mandatory vaccinations are not a new thing and it is very obvious that not many people have travelled overseas to places where vaccinations are mandatory such as Yellow Fever, etc.
Rubbish. My body my choice. I am not a lab rat. You are brainwash by the Government and the media.
A firewall that can still bring the virus into an aged care facility, doesn’t matter if you get the jab or not your still able to get covid and spread it, even if you manage to spread it to just one resident that’s not vaccinated they become a major carrier for the virus. Mandate the vaccine for the elderly and make it voluntary for staff I say.
i have no problem with vaccinations but this is not vaccine. It is not approved for general use, it has provisional approval for use in an emergency situation. The adverse reactions and deaths to date are a concern to me. No available data for long term reactions. Sorry this is a clinical trial, it should never be mandated.
My body does not belong to the government.
My body does not belong to my employer.
My body belongs to me.
Period.
This is absolutely ridiculous!
Forcing people to have the vaccine or not be able to work.
The are already understaffed and thus is just going to make it worse, not to mention in employment will be on the rise.
Australia is meant to be the land of the free, not a place where you are ordered to give up basics Human Rights.
It’s disgusting!
I work in aged care and I believe it is everybody’s right to choose to be vaccinated but I also believe that it should be mandatory for everyone to have it like the flu shot to try and keep our country safe everyone not just health workers. The likes of Singapore are vaccinating everyone to try and stop lockdowns. I feel for all the people that can’t work during lockdown so how about vaccinate everyone to try and curb it a little. The time is not to be against vaccination in a crisis if it means keeping everyone safer.
I resigned on my first shift after the announcement.
The vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting or spreading Covid and a close family member had to be hospitalised after receiving the vaccine, it looks like they may pass away due to complications from having received it.
I am so sorry to hear this. I’m glad you’re standing up for your self. These are the stories no ones being told about and getting swept under the carpet
Residents have a choice to be vaccinated or not. Staff don’t appear to have the same rights.
Excellent point. Residents have choice, their families have choice but let’s force it on an aged care staff. Makes no sense and ethically wrong.
Spot on. Staff should have the same choice.
This is absolutely abhorrent and I hope that people leave the sector in droves. Where are our unions standing up for out basic human rights? We cannot protect and care for the vulnerable if we have a long term vaccine injury. Who will be liable then?
It would seem the Nuremberg Accords now mean nothing in Australia. I’m not anti-vaccination; I actually have had the Pfizer vaccine. I am very much about informed choice and being free to decide what medical treatments and drugs we will or will not take and my job should not be threatened in making that “choice”. I’m genuinely fearful of the precedents being set by these government decisions and where the line will be drawn.
When did Australian become a communist country. Where will this madness stop
From a freedom of rights of staff perspective, when vaccination for influenza was made mandatory last year, I did not observe much resistance or outrage from staff in respect of it. Similarly within the organisation I work in, I have not observed or been told of staff resistance in respect of this requirement. We had a staff vaccination clinic conducted by Healthcare Australia on Monday, and we have another today at another facility, and a significant proportion of our staff have booked in to be vaccinated. They want it for themselves and their families, and also so they may be able to travel again, particularly overseas where a significant proportion of them originate from. I do not expect that any of our staff will leave the industry, as they generally enjoy the work they do, the friends they make and the interactions they have with residents.
I think it’s quite different to the flu vax being mandatory. There are more known risks with the covid vax and realisically potential unknown risks as it is still in its trial period and will be for a while yet. No one knows the long term consequences of the new technology in the MRNA vaccines
how anyone can compare this vaccine with the flu vaccination is beyond me and concerning coming from health professionals who should be able to identify a difference of a traditionally made vaccine to something that has been created in a short time with new technology that has not even been rolled our or monitored for over a year in australia. I have seen resistance to the flu vaccination in my workplace. Previous side effects in my colleagues completely dismissed and them being made to have it despite serious previous complications and they suffer for weeks/months afterwards. Ive seen similar dismissal of my colleagues who have had side effects from the AstraZeneca, still suffering pain today. If nurses arent being taken seriously imagine the general public trying to report. This is just a push to further medical coercion. Body autonomy an apparent key nursing prinicple is dead. Where there is risk choice should always remain.
As soon as i woke up and heard that aged care workers will be required to get the vaccine, i jumped onto seek and started applying for jobs outside the aged care sector. I am not getting into a debate with my employer how unethically this coercion is! How unfortunate as many of my colleagues have expressed my concerns. Lets hope federal government has a contingency plan for all these mass resignations!
staff don’t like being forced, as no one does, but if you recall there was an outcry over the mandatory flu vax too!.. People will stay, some may use this as an excuse to leave, that is OK too! I think people leave the industry because it is under-resourced and really hard work!
staff don’t like being forced, as no one does, but if you recall there was an outcry over the mandatory flu vax too!.. People will stay, some may use this as an excuse to leave, that is OK too! I think people leave the industry because it is under-resourced and really hard work!
As we all know, staff are the greatest transmission of pathogens – if we don’t get immunised residents will die. it is as simple as that. Those who are healthy and refuse to be vaccinated obviously don’t care if they transmit the virus to a vulnerable person. that is a shame.
I agree if staff are committed to their profession they will think of the safety of their patients and families and will be vaccinated.
My friend thought that . Once a heathy 27 year old . She had her Pfizer , she passed a week later with blood clots .
Rip Grace x
I think that this is a violation of my rights to choice what I do with my body, I am not confident in these vaccinations as yet it is all still in the experimentation area, if all residents are vaccinates than my not being is not a risk to them, I am in my 60’s and will retire if I am forced to do this, I fully believe that Nursing Homes will lose almost half of their staff, skilled nursing staff are still looking into this, our Government is not a Dictatorship, we have rights as humans to choose for our self,
I have heard of staff saying the will leave their jobs in Aged Care rather than be vaccinated because they don’t trust these vaccines etc. I think they shouldn’t be forced out of their jobs due to non-compliance with the directives of the PM. I’ve been fully vaccinated, however people in this industry, many of whom are women, should have the choice and beliefs not to comply. It should not be forced on anyone. Staff shortages is a problem as well as people calling in sick and some doing double shifts to cover the shortfall. I do feel strongly that there will be a mass exodus of good reliable staff leaving an industry that has copped a lot of criticism during the Royal Commission snd now this.
By mandating the vaccine people do not have a choice and will have to have the vaccine available in their area. I do not want the AstraZeneca and would prefer the Pfizer. I have been waiting for the Pfizer to come to our area(rural NSW) now this is making me have the vaccine I do not wish to have. 2 staff are leaving from our small staff of 10 as they do not think enough research has gone into it. I would like to know how many government officials have had the vaccine and which vaccine.
From what I’ve seen of the sacrifices so many aged care workers in the residential care system have made to ensure that those they care for are protected by modifying their lives to avoid any external contact with the virus, I’m sure many people are willing to be vaccinated. The pressure to do this from the government may feel like an insult to those who are currently awaiting a suitable vaccination appointment however. It’s essential that we have adequate vaccine supplies available in suitable locations to ensure that people are not discouraged by sloppy delivery. Also a really strong advertising campaign needs to be promoting vaccination to the whole country – I saw it suggested that the Gruen people should be involved in this! However, until adequate supplies of suitable vaccines are available such a campaign could end in frustration for many.
I have the rights and choice to choose , I have left the age care sector for this reason .
I will be leaving sadly. Im shattered. I love the residents we are like there family they will be very sad as we know there routines their likes and dislikes and they don’t like getting new staff. Im just not ready to consent to vaccinne yet. Maybe in future but just not now. All visitors and contractors need to be vaccinated too as majority of time they spend More time with the resident the in the action staff to staff of looking after that mean it I don’t have much time to spend with each resident when a visitor comes they can spend hours with the resident. Also pathology, hospital in home they spend more time than staff with residents too. Some residents are very independent and don’t need staff help so when contractors and visitors come in there getting exposed to them a lot more than the staff are with them.
The residents at already vaccinated so why does it matter if staff are vacinated. You can still catch it being vacinated. Please re consider making it mandatory. The redidents will suffer and lose staff that theve known for years and see more than their own families. When we going to lock down The staff at there for the resident not the family this is going to change the industry. Its very sad.
What a joke. Staff should not be forced to have vaccine. If it had been around for years like all other vaccinations there would be no problem people would get it done but not enough testing being done. We don’t know if theres any long term Side effects who is going to look after our family if something happens to us and pay our bills. How dare the government do this so many people will be walking off the job and the only people the really lose out are the residents the going to lose the people that they see more than their family this will kill them. And dont believe their doing this for the residents you are not because if you were you would have put ratios and fix the system a long time ago. The are more gastroenteritis and flu outbreaks than covid you should be worrying about the other viruses and putting more staff on. During the big lock down last year was the hardest time for staff and residents The staff worked like dogs the residents missed out because staff had no time to spend with them too busy Staff cut backs, staff shortages. People that work in shopping centres come across of thousands of people a day they are more at risk than age care staff. The residents are vacinated if they chose to why dont staff get choice. Unfortunately im leaving after 15 years and the residents will mourn the staff that leave .
I think it was inevitable that this would be the case. Last the flu shot was mandatory and apart from two or three staff at our nursing home, it happened. Not a big deal. It is only a big deal when the media make it a big deal.
How can Aged Care Facilities be left short staffed when many staff have to work in more than one facility to make ends meet?
Facilities are not short staffed they are under staffed by facilty management to cut costs.
Big difference between short staffing and under staffing.
Making it mandatory for aged care workers is ridiculous when some residents have not had the COVID vaccine because their family chose for them to not have it (citing that the vaccine has been rushed). Add to that the fact that dozens of visitors/families can still visit residents without having the COVID vaccine and contractors can enter facilities without having the vaccine – and it’s even more ridiculous to make it mandatory for staff.
I don’t love the aged care industry or my employer enough to readily accept a vaccine that I’m just not sure about.
I totally support the Covid vaccinations for everyone. Did anyone observe the poor infection control practices by the QLD premier, chief health officer, and chief police officer all removing their masks, each of them placing their mask on the lectern and taking off and reapplying several times. Each potentially contaminated each other’s masks 😷
We need to be vaccinated to protect ourselves and our residents, family, friends and community 👍
You realize it doesn’t stop transmissions ? Like at all ? How is it protecting others when it still transmits???
This is beyond comprehensible how a government is coercing people to inject themselves with poison and not offering safe alternative methods of treatment . On top of that we need to sign a no fault indemnity form removing all liability from the Doctors. This sounds very cunning and raises further questions. This is diabolical and will pave the way for the complete usurping of our freedoms. Employees in aged care should not accept and need to speak up before it’s too late.
Disgusting, taking our human rights away. It’s your body you have the right to refuse. If not, where will it lead?
It saddens me that some Aged Care staff are not willing to be vaccinated against Covid, please reconsider as this it to protect you as well as our venerable residents and families
Please consider that by being vaccinated will/should open up facilities and allow visitors in providing comfort to those we provide care for. Isolation from family has such a profound impact on their wellbeing.
I am now due to have my 2nd vaccination on Wednesday 7/7 and had no reaction following first one and same for my Flu vacc
If you are not willing to go through with being vaccinated maybe its a good thing for you to leave the industry as from my point of view you lack the compassion requires to be a genuine aged care worker
I commenced my nursing career in 1970 and still have a great passion to assist people to live their lives as best as possible
Vaccinations save lives
How noble of you Mary, to ask younger people to take a vaccine that is still under human trial. In the USA, it’s called ’emergency use authorisation’; in Australia they call it ‘provisional authorisation’. Have you checked your life insurance, your permanent disability insurance – you just might find that they are void because you participated in a human trial.
The government is forcing an underpaid workforce to take this experiment -the end results of which are unknown. How noble of you to ask the young to risk their future to protect the old. Many of us love working in aged care, but this forced vaccination is too much. Older people like you and I should consider looking at the facts about rushed vaccines – and what has happened with coronavirus vaccines in the past – and speak out about this outrageous coercion. Instead you support forcing this on your colleagues.
“you lack the compassion requires to be a genuine aged care worker”
It is so dehumanising for aged care staff to have their compassion, empathy, integrity used against them at every opportunity.
We are overworked, underpaid, our public image is one of abuse and neglect and now our government seek to remove our bodily autonomy. Our privacy has been violated, we have barely been given enough time to choose which vaccine we want, to seek medical counsel from our GPs, to contact our health insurers, or even to do our own research.
Right now there are vaccine clinics closing down, further reducing our choice.
Residents and their families are not required to be vaccinated, despite them being older, more vulnerable and therefore more likely to contract and spread covid. 40 doses of the vaccine had to be destroyed at one facility alone because residents and family refused.
We as staff should be supported by our facilities with enough PPE and infection control procedures to protect everyone. But we are not. One facility entered a level 5 lockdown without enough PPE to cover staff for one day.
Which vax will stop transmission??? How is it protecting others ? Please explain ? If you wish to have it go for it , don’t force false i donation and guilt onto others
I agree with vaccination. I want to be safe and keep residents safe too. If the aged care industry wants to attract and retain staff pay them a decent wage not the lowest possible wage. It should be about care not profit.
The NPAQ has commenced a campaign urging the government not to make the COVID-19 Vaccine mandatory. Nurses are medical professionals, more than capable of making informed medical decisions relating to their own bodies. Many NPAQ members have already notified us of their intention to leave aged-care.
I am an Rn and will definitely be leaving aged care if this continues to be made mandatory. Interestingly mandatory is not a law and cannot be enforced.
Thank you so much for representing the staff that want the choice of what goes into their Own bodies.
contact your union! We need to make noise. I am the same and will be walking away
I think it is wrong to single out a group of people and make the vaccine mandatory. What about visiting family members, paramedics, other visiting professionals, hospital staff ? It seems like an easy target and I feel for aged care staff. Many people will choose to have it but that’s the key word – choice. Unlike the mandatory flu vaccine it doesn’t sound like the COVID one is for everyone entering aged care facilities – just staff employed there.
Great news about this matter
Please explain your reasoning , my friend died a week later after having the Pfizer. Once a healthy 27 year old . Did the family see this as great news ??
Bullying tactics at its best.
If residents are vaccinated then they should be safe.
NO ONE SHOULD BE FORCED INTO UNEMPLOYMENT FOR NOT HAVING VACCINE.
Comply or be sacked. Is that constitutional?
Where are individuals right to choose what goes into their bodies?
I think vaccines ought to be compulsory for anyone who considers their health is unlikely to suffer from the vaccine.
I work in Community Aged Care and our staff are not at this point required to be vaccinated. I’d like to see the reasoning behind the decision. What is the thinking on whether volunteers in the sector must be vaccinated – do they have a choice? And is there now, or will there be in future, an opportunity to have the pfizer vaccine (given the amount of negative publicity about astra zeneca) for unpaid workers (volunteers) in the sector?
Most of our staff have already gone out and sought the astra zeneca jab, though some who waited longest, have been rewarded (?) with pfizer. I think we are very fortunate to have vaccines at all. And I feel extremely fortunate to live in a country where our total numbers of COVID19 infections have remained very low. However, the sooner we reach herd immunity, the sooner small business owners and casual staff will again be able to return to more reliable work. That is as long as the pressures of being temporarily closed don’t force some businesses into permanent closure. Complex.
Women of child-bearing age must not be forced to take these experimental vaccines. Have you seen the Japanese studies of where the spike proteins end up in your body? The ovaries are overwhelmingly affected. Do not ask the young to sacrifice themselves to save the old. I feel very sad for older people; it is unfortunate that Sco-mo has made this compulsory. So many workers will leave.
I think that we can all get together to protect or residents and staff VACCINE is the way forward
Covid like the flu is to protect the elderly. We must remember we work in their home. They have a right to be safe. We as staff have a responsibility to protect them. Remember the vaccine is not 100%. So they need protection. Even a mild case might be enough to end a life. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be responsible for that.
The influenza vaccine has many years of safety data behind it.
The covid-mrna ‘vaccine’ does not.
Proceed with care, Joanne. The young should not be sacrificed for the old.
i have plenty of compassion thanks probably more than those who have had the vax at my work if the goverments next mandate for you is to. jump off a bridge to save your resisidents would you?being self righteous is not a pretty character trait if you choose to take the vax good luck dont degrade those who dont its a personal choice.
I’m happy for it to be mandatory but workers need to be supported by having clinics in their workplaces, time off to receive the vaccines & paid recovery time. I have already had both my doses & it was such a pain to organise.
So apparently permanent part time staff get absolutely no support.
However, I read on a government website that casual staff will receive $80 to help arrange transport to get the vaccine. If they schedule it on a day they are due to work they will receive $185.
Time to look for a new job, low pay, abused, stressed, overworked and now this. I loved my job what a shame, I will not be dictated to and forced to inject something into my body, until I feel comfortable to do so. It is hard work in aged care and for the despicable wage we receive the terrible conditions, the impact on our bodies and backs, am now this, the job is just not worth it.
Freedom of choice?? Nope !
Have the jab or no job.
Not enough testing, were just guinea pigs.
I am devastated. I do not want to get this experimental vaccine and will have to consider changing jobs- potentially moving to community care until they make it mandatory there as well. Residents have a choice whether they have it or not- why shouldn’t we have the same right
We clearly don’t have rights in this job. There are options, Ange. Being forced to participate in a human trial must not be tolerated. I feel very badly for our residents, but this mandate is too much of an imposition on the workers, and must not be complied with.
We are already, working short staffed, families pay good money for care/time, that workers can’t do, we do our best, a lot of people have said that they will leave, an already failing business, I’ve had my first, at moment I’m staying, the unrealistic expectations and what I feel is neglect of resis, due to staffing shortfalls, management that won’t listen, will be what makes me leave, after 17 years in a job I love!
Ofcourse we’re treated like pigs.. wouldn’t expect anything less when our pay already reflects that. We all need to stand up for our rights. Don’t get the jab if you prefer not too. That’s your choice, stand by it.
There’s power in numbers! Let’s show them our true strength that they so greatly underestimate!!
Well said! I stand with everyone brave and strong enough to say no!
I think Mr Foley, CEO of Allambi Heights Aged Care is completely out of touch with what the workers are feeling and thinking about this. He said no staff would walk away. Who is he kidding? This is the final straw for workers in an underpaid and overworked job! The residents are beautiful and we love them, yes, but our health and our families are important too, and our body, our choice! This is not the fluvax, it is an experimental trial with new technology, and we are the guinea pigs. No thanks!
Think it’s very unfair what has happened to my body my choice. In just our facility in SA 50% have already said there not getting it. The amount of people that have gotten seriously ill over this injection is stupid not to say that amount that have died but the media /government doesn’t report on this. It hasn’t had enough testing done to make this mandatory. And being told it doesn’t actually stop you catching the virus and only works on pacific strands what’s the point . Why only make it mandatory for the workers? What about other sectors that are bigger then aged care.? I believe this will leave an already struggling sector in a worse situation making it mandatory.
It’s an absolute disgrace that people rights are being eroded by the government!!
Residents and their families have the right to choose what goes into their own/loved ones bodies and every Australian should be afforded those same rights.
Unfortunately, if this goes ahead, I will be forced to leave the industry which is absolutely heart breaking!!
I am a carer in an high care aged facility. I cannot get the covid vax, call it an irrational fear, but I don’t have confidence in this new vaccine. Maybe in a year or so, but not now. Because of my choice, people have called me selfish, told me that I shouldn’t work with the elderly if I don’t put them first, that working with the elderly is a privilege I don’t deserve…
The residents and their families recently got the choice to vaccinate or not. Most decided to go ahead, but others had hesitation or their loved one was was so frail if they had any adverse reactions, it could harm them. If the residents have the vaccine they are protected. Right?
I work nights, I earn $22.31 an hour, 2 carers to 40 residents. It’s a hard job but for those moments that I get to share with the residents, it’s worth it. They are my family. It’s going to break my heart if I am fired for not getting the vaccination.
Stay strong. I am in the same boat. They are heading down a slippery slope if we let them. I will be walking away from my job in September, it is no longer a ‘healthcare’ system I wish to represent if this goes ahead. They will try make us look like the bad guys when they’ve had years of being told of under staffing, unpaid overtime, poor conditions, poor nutrition, poor mental stimulation for our most vulnerable and yet theyve done nothing about that and theyre trying to make it look like they all of a sudden care about these people. No, we do, working hard every day to make up for the short falls in the system to treat these people as if they were our family. Scott Morrisons elderly loved ones will never be cared for in a standard aged care home I have no doubt
It’s an absolute disgrace that we are forced to get a. Vaccine that we don’t want. This is going to put this industry under so much more undue pressure and already understaffed issues. It’s just NOT FAIR
Foley doesn’t believe staff will leave the sector! Ha what a joke they already are leaving. He is kidding himself. Aged Care staff and Nursing staff are already pushed to the limits especially in rural places. Staff shortages every single day with staff that is left burnt out. This will just increase that pressure and more staff are leaving, not will leave…. already are leaving.
Why should it be made mandatory for Aged care workers?? Is it mandatory for front line health workers?? Aged care Residents and family members have a choice to be vaccinated or not!! Have I thought about leaving Aged care?? Yes I have. I’m not an anti-vaxer, and I do intent on being vaccinated, but when I’m ready.
I think this mandatory vaccination is going to make an already struggling sector struggle even more, if not completely crumble the sector.
We struggle now to get enough staff, how is this roll out going to help with that.?
I know 100 people that are about to walk out on this sector for the shire fact they have to get an experimental Vaccine.!!!!
Wake up Australia. Our most vulnerable are about to suffer because of this decision
#makingthevaccinemadatoryisunlawful
It is completely unethical,undemocratic and just plain wrong to force anyone to have something injected into their Own body to keep their job.Where has our freedom of choice gone ? This shot is still in the trial phase until 2023 so how on earth can this be mandated onto aged care staff ? You only have to look at the fatalities and adverse reactions to this trialled drug to know this is abhorrent. The Government is supposed to work for the people but clearly they only work to serve themselves. If aged care staff crumble and agree to this it will the start of losing our freedoms and basic human rights.
It is disgusting. I am disgusted to work in the health care sector. It is completely different than the mandatory flu vaccination which is a tradition vaccination, has long term safety data and has been in existence for a long time. The covid vaccinations already have adverse reporting that outnumbers the reports for flu vaccination in all the years it has been in existence. where there is risk there should always be choice. Make the roll out in aged care much easier and accessible but make there be a choice. have all overweight aged care workers lost weight? Peer reviewed research shows huge increased risk in the obese population. have they stopped drinking alcohol? stopped smoking? all have huge well researched and documented effects on the immune system. should it be mandatory that they should stop? no, because that comes down to choice as should something with much less research and proof of evidence after less than a year of use.
Two days ago, a gentleman(aged 65-70) was visiting his wife who is in aged care after receiving the vaccine. I thought aged care facilities weren’t receiving visitors at this time? I could be wrong.
Anyway, he reported feeling unwell and decided to go home. He collapsed in the carpark, vomited repeatedly and passed out. He left the aged care home in an ambulance.
We only have two vaccines available. Our choice has been stripped from us, in a very public and humiliating way. The narrative that all aged care residents have been vaccinated is simply incorrect also. Many families refused on behalf of their loved ones. One facility I know of had to destroy 40 doses of a vaccine.
Forcing our health care workers to take the vaccine to keep their jobs is simply WRONG. Just like the residents have a choice so do workers. Other vaccines such as Hep C and flu have been around for decades, whilst these new vaccines are in a totally new class altogether. We have no long term studies on their adverse effects and they are of course, in the experimental phase until 2023. Taking away workers right to choose is flat out wrong!
I want to know what happens with people with auto immune disease and multicultural people who will refuse. Where is the line drawn in the sand. I am a bleeder. What happens to me? Too much open space!!
Communism at its finest. Coercion is nasty and illegal. I will be leaving Aged Care, which has nothing to do with loyalty to our dependent residents, yet everything to do with the old promised values of Freedom Of Choice and integrity. Neither of which matter to governments anymore.
I work in community aged care and am definitely not excited or scheduling in my vaccine. I’m concerned that something that is still in trial phases is being made “mandatory ” for one work force. Why do residents have the choice of whether they receive said vaccine and workers do not? If we are concerned for the aged population. Should the vaccine be mandatory for anyone IN CASE they should come in contact with an aged person or someone immunocompromised? This is not a vaccine that has been around for years. This is a vaccine that still has unknown side effects – effects which may not be known for years yet. There should be a choice for everyone whether to have it or not.
Key words in this article are “need to ensure adequate supply of vaccine and to support staff”
I am in the unenviable position of my husband’s nursing home being in lockdown, being cared for by unvaccinated staff. I am not allowed to visit, even though we are both vaccinated. I am on my own, whereas they are going back to larger households.
So does that mean if I have any adverse reaction to the vaccination that I am being forced to have and am unable to work, will the government or my workplace pay my mortgage, my bills,or look after my family? NO!! I work in this industry because I love my job and the residents I care for ,why should I have my rights taken away when it is a fact that you can still catch covid and pass it on when vaccinated? Are all the residents families going to be forced to be vaccinated if they want to see their relatives again? Contractors?
I think it should be mandatory, because they are the first primary contact of the client.In other words to safeguard them.
Uh ? Huh how is it sad guarding them being vaccinated ?? It still transmitted even fully vaxed please explain what you mean ??
No person should be forced to have a vaccine
It should not be mandatory for any person to have a vaccine. Freedom of choice.
Will not have an experimental injection, I do not believe that it can be mandatory, I am not anti vax I am anti being essentially blackmailed into being a labrat. I will walk
I do not agree with mandatory vaccination not all residents in our facility have to take the vaccine so staff should not they mandated or lose their job because they choose not to have the vaccination you should not handpick who has to and who does not if you mandate one work sector then mandate everyone
Flu shots are not made mandatory when they are still in clinical trials and are not referred to as “study interventions” and people who take them are more referred to as “study participants”
These vaccines are still in human trials, safety data is completely biased to push the vaccine!!! People need to stand up and say no to ANY mandatory vaccinations! Vaccines are a choice! If people have the right to choose when they die from assisted euthanasia and have the right to chose when to kill their unborn child under the banner of “my body my choice” then the same goes for vaccines of ANY kind!! Those at risk who wish to have it… if they are as “effective” as the governments keep saying they are… have nothing to worry about if other people choose not to have the jab! Because it’s apparently “effective” so why the Push!!! Why mandate it when those who feel they are at risk have the opportunity to opt into the human trails is they so wish! Screw anyone who forces this medical trial on anyone! If your worried – YOU have it! Don’t push your irrational fear of a virus with a 99.9% survival rate onto other peoples ability to choose for themselves!
Most facilities are struggling to get staff and keep staff now. Never seen a single day we had full staff . When you have them doing double shifts, starting earlier, finishing later to cover, imagine when 40% leave due to being forced to pick between your health and your job?
They will be run into the ground, if the facilities can even stay open with such minimal staff.
Not to mention everyone’s mental health. The ones being forced to get it, will it play on their mind? I know it’ll play on mine and cause me server depression. Will being forced out of work raise unemployment? More depression cases? Even worse suicidal because people can’t pay bills due to no income. It’s going to play havoc on everyone.
I had the vaccine over 2 months ago (It was my choice) I believe the vaccine is the only way that we can reopen to the world. BUT I also believe that everyone should have their choice. Residents have a choice, residents families have a choice so WHY not staff! Seems totally crazy that staff have to have the vaccine but residents don’t and their families come and visit and they don’t have to either!!!!! REALLY MAKES NO SENSE…
I have worked in Aged Care for 7yrs veey dedicated & love my job but having autoimmune diseases I am very concerned about what this vaccine may do to my system , as it is in the trial state no one can guarantee it wont harm my immune system further. I am confused & conflicted how a trial vaccine can be made mandatory. Also if some residents have chosen to not get vaccinated but can still stay in the nursing homes then why cant staff have a choice.
Disgraceful to take away a the basic right of making an informed choice. There is still no clear answer as to what vaccine actually works best and what the long term effects might be. Like so many I’m not anti vaccination I just want my basic right of freedom of choice respected. Residents or their representatives have that right (even the flu vac was not mandatory for residents).
I love my job, the residents and their families, I put up with the stress the low pay and the often unrealistic expectations but I will not put up with being forced into basically being a guinea pig.
I am on a fb page that has adverse side effects that people have had or someone they know has had.
I work in aged care. I love it but I will be leaving. I’m not risking my health and my life.
I feel sick and stressed thinking about it. I have a 5 year old. She is my main priority.
Our human rights have been taken away
I’ve had my facility manager come down corridors, asking staff about their vaccination status while they are trying to do their job.
Let me make this clear. Vaccination is a medical procedure that should stay between you and your doctor. It is part of your medical history and therefore your privacy needs to be respected at all times.
Yes, there is now a legal requirement for aged care workers to be vaccinated. But how you get vaccinated, what vaccine you get and where is your choice.
I find it dehumanising to be asked about my medical history so publicly. We have a right privacy. We have body autonomy and a right to confidential medical advice.
You have until September, although now facilities are pushing staff to be vaccinated by mid-august so as not to burden the office with rostering issues.
No. Not every resident in aged care has been vaccinated. A lot of residents refused and their families refused to have their family member in care vaccinated. We had to throw out 40 doses of the vaccine in a single day.
One last point. We recently had a level 5 lockdown at one facility. That facility did not have enough adequate PPE to last one day, yet alone 3 days. Perhaps the government should be looking at the lack of spending by private aged care companies on PPE to prevent this virus.
What a load of hogwash.
Mandatory Flu Vac acceptable to all parties but not the COVID .
Paid time to receive the COVID Vacination a big consideration. So what’s so precious about aged care staff that some how they should be given financial assistance and time off work in order to be vaccinated as opposed to the rest of the working community.
Union driven to he core , Shameful.
Happy to discuss by email.
I have consulted my doctor about the vaccine. She said that because I am living with myalgic encephalomyelitis and there is no data available from clinical trials specifically relating my illness and the vaccine, I must make an “informed decision’’ about being vaccinated.
How can I be expected to make an informed decision when my livelihood is hanging in the balance?
I have spent my entire working life caring for the elderly and all my qualifications (seven in total) are healthcare related. If I decide not to receive the vaccine, I will almost certainly find myself long-term unemployed – and totally reliant of welfare.
I hope the government will reconsider its decision about mandatory vaccinations. Individual circumstances which must be taken into consideration.
I think they haven’t really thought about the bigger picture. We are already short staffed in our nursing home ‘ and I’m telling you ‘ we are going to be even worse come September. I won’t be getting the jab. And yes I love my residents and my job . But I’m not pumping some crap into my body that we still don’t know the long hall side effects of this .
Why only Aged Care staff and Disability Care staff are to have mandatory COVID vaccine?
Why treat Aged Care nurses/staff diferrently than staff working in other heath care institutions?
Feels discriminatory and unfair.
Answer was to protect elderly residents/ clients/patients?
But elderly patients are admitted in hospital wards, brought to emergency wards, having surgeries, procedures, they can spend days and days surrounded by large number of diferrent staff and other patients every day with exposure to virus so much higher than at their home /nursing homes /hostels where they are surrounded with same workers every day and most important it is small number of workers, in other words it is their home, carers and residents as family.
Can anyone tell me about the safety of Noravax which apparently uses old technology and promotes the bodies own immune response. It doesn’t have the Rmna spike proteins and the delivery system is already used for HEP B, flu jabs etc. Side effects are minimal. Australia have purchased 51 million vaccines but will they be available before the September deadline?
Is anyone mounting a legal challenge? This can’t be legal, they don’t have the power under the Constitution.
Its taking away our right to choose our medical treatment
I will no longer have a career as I am not having the vaccine
I’m with you. My wife and I have left as well. 30 years combined experience. If we all walked they couldn’t do it. We have the power at the end of the day.
Class action law suits coming up. 10 years in aged care and I won’t be forced to take untested poison.
Australia the ‘Free’ Country, my **s!!
I will NOT be forced into injecting something into MY body I do not trust! I work in the laundry at an Aged Care facility. I literally am only in the corridors for 15 minutes a day to stock up the linen cupboard. I’m a single Mum and will probably be homeless next month as I won’t be able to afford my rent but I will not be bullied!!!
Who the hell do you think you are to take away my rights. I hope everyone stands their ground and walks to show them that they can’t get away with this. Otherwise this won’t be the end on what they will try force on people next time. Enough is enough!
Sadly it’s forced . I’m not anti vax by any means but this should be a choice . Our body our choice especially since it still can be transmitted even after fully vacated ? And they say it protects the residents . Bull , it should be a choice . What about everyone else ? The residents? Families and others that are going to be around ? Why aren’t they forced ? I will be leaving the job along with many others . I love my job but not worth it .
I resigned from Aged Care Industry at the end of July. I am waiting for safer alternatives to be approved. The Novovax and Covax 19 are my products of choice if I am to be bullied into taking vaccination. I am 64 and in excellent health and need to be very careful to maintain that gift.
I have left the aged care industry and I am waiting for a safe alternative. I disagree with mandantory vaccines, especially the mRNA experimental vaccine. I have had the influenza vaccine and I’m not an anti vaxer. it’s wrong they are making children have the vaccine to attend school in NSW.
Absolutely disgusting that aged care workers are being forced to have this experimental gene therapy. The aged care sector cops enough with understaffing, being under paid and under appreciated. I don’t get paid enough to play Russian Roulette with my life, and there is a lot in the industry who think the same
I took on the job in Aged Care because i love working with the elderly, I’ve loved my job for 15 yrs.
I wholeheartedly believe that it is unfair that residents and relative are able to decide wether they vaccinate or not but the workers don’t get to choose.
The stress this is causing me and my dedicated co workers is extreme to say the least, i feel that our human rights have been taken away.
The choice to stay or leave is definately not easy for me.