This petition is to request the Marshall Liberal government of South Australia make mRNA COVID-19 vaccines available to South Australians aged 60+ in line with the recent ATAGI recommendations. This will aid in speeding up the vaccine rollout in SA and ensure higher coverage and protection of our more vulnerable citizens. This will result in lower hospitalizations and deaths when the state and country open up in the coming months. 

South Australia has one of the eldest populations in the country, with 24.3% of the population aged over 60, 12.5% aged over 70, compared to 21.4% and 10.7% respectively at a national level. Currently 85.5% of over 70s and approximately 80% of those aged 60-69 in SA has received at least 1 dose of a vaccine, leaving approximately 32,000 over 70s completely unvaccinated and many tens of thousands more aged 60-69. These remaining people deserve to be given a choice in vaccine if it will help ensure we have better coverage of our most vulnerable South Australians.

I am a South Australian in my mid 30s, who is fully vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer (Comirnaty) COVID-19 vaccine. However, my mother who is in her early 70s remains unvaccinated. She has heard too many stories of people having bad reactions to the AZ vaccine currently available to her and not only the deaths reported in the news. My wife’s friend spent most of 6 weeks in hospital due to the AZ vaccine, my father experienced confusion and red blotches on his legs and my wife’s stepfather experienced a week long headache and also red blotches on his legs. Only the first of these three examples was reported and many more go unreported as they may resolve within a few days. Knowing this, there is no way that I would try to convince my mother to take the AZ vaccine. The federal government continues to congratulate themselves whenever they manage to borrow more Pfizer doses from foreign nations, further solidifying the idea that the AZ is an inferior or more risky choice. My family’s story is far from unique. 

Premier Steven Marshall MP, please provide protection and equality to people aged over 60 who are either concerned about the safety of the vaccine currently available to them or simply want the ability to choose their vaccine.