COVID-19 vaccine won't be mandatory in Australia, but some industries may demand workers get vaccinated
ABCWhile the Australian Government has said the coronavirus vaccine won't be mandatory, some industries may insist their workers get the jab, experts say. Key points: Experts say the aged care industry needs a consistent approach to a vaccination roll-out to protect vulnerable Australians Experts say the aged care industry needs a consistent approach to a vaccination roll-out to protect vulnerable Australians But what might be considered reasonable in the context of aged care or a hospital is likely to be different to an office But what might be considered reasonable in the context of aged care or a hospital is likely to be different to an office They say punitive measures unlikely to boost immunisation numbers against COVID-19 Up to 680,000 people are set to receive the first lot of vaccinations from mid-to-late February. The aged care industry needs a consistent approach to the vaccination rollout, according to Aged & Community Services Australia chief executive Patricia Sparrow, with everything possible being done to protect vulnerable older Australians. "We know that if COVID-19 gets into an aged care facility, it does have a really terrible outcome," Ms Sparrow said. "I think mandating a vaccine would be a fairly good way of harming trust in public health institutions and that feels like an incredibly wrong thing to do during a pandemic," she said.