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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-08-20 Daily Xml
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COVID-19 Vaccinations

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:10): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, regarding recent recommendations from Australia's national regulatory authority for therapeutic goods, namely, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: On 3 June of this year, the TGA inserted the following recommendation as part of its digital Australian Immunisation Handbook, and I quote the exact words:

COVID-19 vaccine is not recommended for healthy infants, children or adolescents who do not have medical conditions that increase their risk of severe illness. This is because the risk of severe illness was extremely low in this cohort over the course of the pandemic, and benefits of vaccination are not considered to outweigh the potential harms.

This advice clearly contradicts SA Health's strong promotion and encouragement to South Australian parents to get their children double vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations. This advice also contradicts the strong recommendations made by South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, who stated:

As a paediatrician, I encourage all parents and caregivers to make sure their young ones are vaccinated against this disease.

As a result of advice from SA Health and Nicola Spurrier, thousands of parents got their children vaccinated. But now the TGA claims that this vaccination was more likely to cause harm than to protect children against COVID-19. My questions to the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, are:

1. Will SA Health and South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, publicly acknowledge the 3 June advice from the TGA and declare that the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for healthy infants, children or adolescents?

2. Will SA Health and Nicola Spurrier also publicly acknowledge that the benefits of vaccination are not considered to outweigh the potential harms in accordance with current TGA recommendations?

3. Given the extremely low risk of severe illness for children, as well as limited benefit and potential harm, will SA Health and Nicola Spurrier issue a public apology for actively campaigning for children to be vaccinated despite legitimate parental concerns?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:12): I will be happy to pass those questions on to the minister in another place and bring back a reply. I might just add, and I think I have mentioned this before when questions about vaccinations have arisen in this chamber: I think many health professionals, including the World Health Organization, have talked about vaccinations as the single most effective public health measure ever introduced in terms of keeping populations safe. I think it is a very great risk when we talk about vaccinations as something people ought not undertake.

In relation to vaccinations during COVID, COVID was an unprecedented event, a very fast-moving event, where no doubt COVID vaccinations saved many, many lives right around the globe. As to the substance of the questions and anything that the TGA has recommended, I will be happy to pass that on to the Minister for Health and bring back a reply.

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