CORONAVIRUS —
MANDATORY VACCINATIONS — MEDICAL EXEMPTIONS
842. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the minister representing the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the commonwealth
government's COVID-19 frequently asked questions on exemptions to
mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in residential aged care.
(1) Is the
minister aware that the South Australian public health order sets out that a temporary
medical exemption can be granted for persons who are pregnant?
(2) Is pregnancy
a reason for a temporary medical exemption from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
in Western Australia?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer is provided on behalf of the
Minister for Health.
(1) Yes.
(2) Exemptions on
the grounds of pregnancy were previously available from the commonwealth's
Australian Immunisation Register. The Australian Immunisation Register
immunisation medical exemption form, IM011, however, has recently been amended
with regard to exemptions due to pregnancy. The form now provides that a medical
exemption due to pregnancy applies to live attenuated vaccines only. None of
the approved COVID-19 vaccines are live
attenuated vaccines. Therefore, pregnancy alone is no longer grounds for
a medical exemption. This accords with the current advice from the Australian
Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, or ATAGI, and the Royal Australian
and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, or RANZCOG, which
is that pregnant women should be vaccinated.