Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison quickly reversed course Wednesday after announcing he would make a potential coronavirus vaccine “mandatory,” saying instead it would be “encouraged.”
Morrison started the day declaring his government’s aim was to get a vast majority of the population to have the free jab and he was “expecting” it would be compulsory except on medical grounds.
The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated.
“I would expect it to be as mandatory as you can possibly make,” Morrison said in a radio interview. “We’re talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world, and over 430 Australians. So, you know, we need the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get Australia back to normal.”
He was backed by Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews who made it clear “we are looking at it being a mandatory vaccine”.
“Basically, there will be medical exemptions that will be considered, but the Prime Minister’s made it clear that we are looking at it being a mandatory vaccine,” Andrews said.
She said issues such as penalties for refusing the vaccine will be considered “in due course”.
Within hours Morrison had changed his language, saying he did not mean it would be compulsory, but would be “encouraged.”
“There’s been a bit of an overreaction to any suggestion of this, there will be no compulsory vaccine,” he said on Wednesday afternoon.
“What we want to achieve is as much vaccination as we possibly can. We can’t hold someone down and make them take it.
The Morrison government has signed a deal to secure 25 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine out of Oxford University, if it proves successful in trials, the BBC reports.
Separately, Australia has also signed a deal worth $18m with Becton Dickinson, an American pharmaceutical company, to supply 100 million needles and syringes.
Morrison says the vaccine, if proven effective will be available to Australians, for free, “hopefully from early next year.”
Australia has recorded 450 coronavirus deaths out of a population of 25 million, most from an outbreak in the state of Victoria.
Earlier this month, Victoria declared a state of disaster and imposed strict lockdown measures after a surge in infections, as Breitbart News reported.
It still has more than 7,000 active cases, but the number of new infections is in decline.
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