Infectious disease expert Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah has been preselected by Labor to run in the Victorian seat of Higgins at the next federal election, The Age reports.
Electing an actual medical doctor to Parliament sounds amazing on paper (if we conveniently forget about Andrew Laming), but the issue here is that Ananda-Rajah has been one of the most prominent critics of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia, which is the last thing we need when health authorities are telling people to get the safe and effective AstraZeneca jab as soon as possible.
Ananda-Rajah not only slammed the use of AstraZeneca as “a population-level experiment” on Q+A in February (before the extremely rare blood clotting side-effect caused rollout drama), but she also prolifically tweets about AstraZeneca and the pandemic in general to her 8,000 followers.
In addition to frequently slamming AstraZeneca online while other health authorities urge people to go out and get the jab, Ananda-Rajah has tweeted heaps of alarmist and potentially fear-mongering analyses of the situation.
https://twitter.com/rajah_mich/status/1405782120992165892
https://twitter.com/rajah_mich/status/1382259389680132096
https://twitter.com/rajah_mich/status/1419059070351331333
However, in the wake of the announcement that she’s running as a Labor candidate, Ananda-Rajah put out a statement on Friday afternoon which redirected her criticism towards the government itself. She also massively toned down her criticisms of the AstraZeneca vaccine in particular.
“Australians should follow the official health advice when it comes to getting vaccinated,” she said.
“Vaccination saves lives. If you are vaccinated, you are protected from COVID-19. If you are not vaccinated, you are not protected.
“My comments on Astra Zeneca [sic] were entirely in line with available evidence and the official advice of ATAGI as endorsed by the Prime Minister and the Federal Government.”
The most recent advice from ATAGI is that all adults in Greater Sydney should “strongly consider” getting the AstraZeneca jab as soon as possible. State health authorities such as NSW Health as well as independent bodies like the Australian Medical Association and the RACGP also recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
https://twitter.com/rajah_mich/status/1420947977430994949
For anyone actually interested in following the current official health advice, the safe and effective AstraZeneca vaccine is now available to everyone at doctor’s clinics and, soon, at pharmacies.
The seat of Higgins is currently held by the Liberals, but there’s been a significant Labor and Greens vote in recent years. Expect to see a lot more of this high-profile and pretty controversial candidate in the coming months.
All adult Aussies (yep, even if those of us under 40) are currently able to get the safe and effective AstraZeneca vaccine through a GP. Talk to a doctor to see if it’s right for you.
Alternatively, you can triple-check to see if you’re eligible for the Pfizer vaccine here.
The best vaccine is the first one you can get, and that’ll be our ticket out of this mess.
