Medicines have side-effects: one I used to take meant that I had to avoid direct sunlight, another causes my face to swell up and another causes anxiety. There's no doubt that vaccines can also have side-effects, which vary in severity from person to person - in fact that was widely known and publicised in the case of the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
The problem I have with Kerryn Phelps is that, no matter how balanced she is if you read what she said in detail, by using the term "vaccine injury" she's giving oxygen to the anti-vaxxers who argue that all vaccines are harmful all of the time, and by suggesting that the medical regulator silenced doctors - which is what the headline to the story says - she's feeding into the narrative that there was a huge cover-up by the medical establishment:
Asked why the medical regulator warned doctors not to speak out about vaccine side effects, Dr Phelps said, “You have to ask AHPRA themselves about their motivation. But certainly quite a number of doctors that I’ve spoken to have felt impeded in speaking out about their concerns about vaccine adverse events because of the statement made by AHPRA that doctors shouldn’t say anything that was going to impede the government’s vaccine rollout. They took that to mean not to publicly raise their concerns.”
Actually, what the AHPRA said was that doctors shouldn't be spreading misinformation:
“any promotion of anti-vaccination statements or health advice which contradicts the best available scientific evidence or seeks to actively undermine the national immunisation campaign (including via social media) is not supported by National Boards and may be in breach of the codes of conduct and subject to investigation and possible regulatory action”.
As AHPRA said:
“The concerns raised about the practitioners related to the spreading of misinformation about Covid-19 or vaccination advice, including that the Covid-19 pandemic was fake, that the vaccination program was about government led mind control or in some instances representing that patients would develop cancer by having a vaccination administered,” she said.
“Legitimate discussion and debate, based on science is appropriate and necessary to progress our understanding and knowledge. The [March 9, 2021 position] statement does not prevent practitioners from having these discussions.”
So, in addition to being surprised that anyone with medical training would be anti-vaccine - and there were doctors telling people that vaccines were poisons etc - I'm also surprised that any doctor who actually read AHPRA's statement would conclude that they shouldn't raise concerns about adverse reactions in their patients. Particularly when the TGA actively monitors adverse reactions.
