Charlotte Varcoe
MINISTER for Health and Wellbeing Chris Picton has responded to enquiries from a local council about the Covid-19 vaccine and its side effects.
Throughout the year, Grant District Council had written to Mr Picton regarding “life-altering injuries” which were reportedly experienced by residents following the vaccine.
The initial discussion was brought to elected member’s attention by Councillor Gavin Clarke who requested council write to Mr Picton asking him to “gain an appreciation of the pertinent distinctions between naturally acquired mucosal immunity and immunity received via intravenous vaccination”.
In March this year, Mr Clarke requested further correspondence from Mr Picton after not receiving a response.
Mr Clarke presented a motion requesting an online meeting with Mr Picton and elected members to discuss the issue.
During the July meeting, a response from Mr Picton was received and discussed among elected members.
In his letter Mr Picton stated he had requested the information from the Department of Health and Wellbeing which claimed the vaccination program had been rolled out by the Federal Government in collaboration with states and territories.
The correspondence stated from the beginning of the vaccine program until the end of April 2023 more than 13 billion doses had been administered globally.
There had been 66 million doses administered nationally and more than 4.5 million in South Australia.
“In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is responsible for assessing a vaccine’s safety and approving vaccines,” the letter stated.
“The TGA monitors Covid-19 vaccine safety by collecting and reporting data, and Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Reports are published fortnightly.”
It also stated SA Health monitors the reports and noted the Covid-19 vaccine “may cause some side effects”.
“The most frequently reported include injection-site reactions (such as a sore arm) and more general symptoms, like headache, muscle pain, fever and chills,” it said.
“Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) is a known but rare side effect of the mRNA vaccines…the TGA continues to monitor and review reports of myocarditis and pericarditis.”
The letter also stated the TGA would also continue to monitor reports of thrombosis – which is a blood clot forming in an artery or vein – with thrombocytopenia syndrome, guillain-barre syndrome – a rare disorder where the body’s immune system damages nerves – and immune thrombocytopenia following AstraZeneca vaccination in adults.
Mr Picton also provided a report from the South Australian Health Medical Research Institute which stated those who were not vaccinated were more likely to be hospitalised than those who had been vaccinated.
The report observed Covid-19 cases recorded in the state between August 1 and October 31 last year and noted those who had received three or more doses of the vaccine were the least likely to be hospitalised.
Mr Clarke told The Border Watch he was happy Mr Picton “eventually” responded to council’s concerns yet was disappointed the specific local cases reported were not acknowledged.
“Really it was just the same standard response,” Mr Clarke said.
“None of the things we said in the letter to him about people locally having chronic fatigue and other hard issues undiagnosed was mentioned which is my main disappointment.”
Despite this, Mr Clarke said he found it interesting in the report tabled to council that nobody under the age of 60 years who were unvaccinated had died of Covid-19 within the three-month period.
“In terms of risks for over 60 years of age it brought questions in my mind knowing there are greater risks than what they are talking about,” he said.
“There was very little benefit in prevention of death under 60 years because nobody died anyway.”
He said he would have liked to have an entire year’s worth of data, rather than just three months in order to “give a better picture” of what is happening.
According to the TGA’s most recent Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Report, reports of inflammation of the heart or membrane around the heart following the vaccine was “very stable”.
It stated myocarditis was reported in around 1-2 in every 100,000 people who received the Pfizer vaccination, around 2 in every 100,000 who received the Moderna vaccination and 3-4 in every 100,000 who received the Novavax.
The report stated the AstraZeneca vaccine was no longer available in Australia and therefore there were no recent details on other complications following that brand of vaccinations.
