The vaccine rollout in Australia, argues Markela Panegyres, has been held back by the lack of publicly-owned vaccine infrastructure and the government's own vaccine nationalism.
Vaccines and vaccination
Right from the start, agreements and plans for the development of COVID-19 vaccines were going to privilege a profit-generating and market-based approach, writes Dale McKinley.
Vaccinations must reach all the peoples of the world, or COVID-19 will continue to spread, with the threat of more dangerous variants emerging, writes Barry Sheppard.
Rich nations, representing just 14% of the global population, have bought up 53% of the most promising COVID-19 vaccines so far, creating a global vaccine apartheid, writes Yanis Iqbal.
As the pandemic drags on, it's natural to long for a vaccine that will fix it. But, as Martin Wolterding and Coral Wynter explain, that may be harder to do than first thought.
Today, as vaccinations are being used as a political weapon, we need to look again at the science and when, where and how they matter. We also need to question whether the punitive way the major parties are driving policy on immunisations will increase the vaccination rate.
Over hundreds of years, immunisation has been scientifically proven to prevent many diseases. It is worth examining some of the history that promoted the realisation that diseases can be prevented.
Last week the Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison announced that from January 1 next year parents who do not vaccinate their children for reasons of “conscientious objection” will be denied access to child care payments (Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate) and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement. These payments are worth up to $15,000 a year.
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