Doctor warns anti-vax rumours, ‘all sorts of really weird, irrational logic’, rife in remote communities
An Aboriginal activist has traditional owners and the NT Government concerned about the anti-vaccination sentiment and rumours spreading in remote communities.
Key points:
- Traditional owners are concerned about anti-vaccination rumours and misinformation
- NT Health confirms nobody has died from vaccinations, dispelling a key rumour
- Traditional owners clash with an Indigenous youth advocate over his anti-vax campaigning
Larrakia and Warramungu traditional owner Dr Aleeta Fejo directly confronted activist David Cole and his followers at a gathering in Darwin earlier this month.
Dr Fejo, a senior GP with 35 years’ experience in Aboriginal health, is pleading with Territorians to get vaccinated.
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NT youth worker David Cole has been campaigning against vaccination across the Territory and has a growing following.
“Six people died from Groote Eylandt in one week. They were all vaccinated,” he recently told a gathering in a video viewed by the ABC.
“We are dropping. The morgues are filling. The funeral parlours can’t cope.”
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An NT Health spokesperson has confirmed otherwise.
Darwin traditional owner representative body Larrakia Nation has distanced itself from Mr Cole’s organisation, the so-called Larrakia Sovereign Tribal Council.
“They do not have authority to represent their views as those of the Larrakia Nation,” it said in a statement.
‘Lives at risk’
NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner has implored Territorians to get vaccinated.
ABC News: Michael Franchi
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“Do not get your information from this man. This misinformation is putting lives at risk,” he said.
“My message to the Larrakia people and all First Nations Territorians is please get the vaccine.
“It is safe, and it is saving millions of lives across the world from this insidious virus.
Double-edged sword
Dr Fejo said opening borders would be a concern for the NT.
“Our people are already vulnerable because we are a long way away from the hospital, because we don’t have a lot of staff at our clinics or the resources needed to look after everybody, because many of us are sick, and because we live in overcrowded conditions,” she told ABC Radio Darwin’s Late Breakfast.
“It’s very concerning.
At time of writing, the Federal Health Department has reported 51.47 per cent of Territorians over 16 have been double vaccinated.
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