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Australian Medical Association Says Anti-Vaxxers And Covid-19 Deniers Should Opt Out Of Public Health System

Australian Medical Association Says Anti-Vaxxers And Covid-19 Deniers Should Opt Out Of Public Health System

The Victorian AMA president Dr Roderick McRae said these people should just 'let nature run its course'.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association believes people who are against vaccinates and doubt the coronavirus pandemic should opt out of the public health system.

The state has experienced several days during October of four-digit new Covid-19 case numbers and there are fears hospitals could soon be pushed beyond breaking point.

To try and remedy the situation, AMA Victoria president, Dr Roderick McRae, believes anti-vaxxers and pandemic deniers should ensure they don't bother seeking help in the public system if they get sick from Covid-19.

As the state comes out of lockdown, he said there will be plenty of people who will be sick from other ailments as well as those who have had their elective surgeries rescheduled as a result of restrictions.

Dmitry Rogulin/TASS/Alamy Live News

Dr McRae added that these people shouldn't be pushed down the line because someone is infected with Covid-19 and their symptoms could have been prevented with a vaccine.

He said in a statement (via the Guardian): "Within the public hospitals, the knees are knocking as restrictions ease, because the situation is stressed to the point that tents are going up outside of the public hospitals to facilitate the removal of ill patients from ambulances, so those ambulances can go and get the next patient.

"So these patients continue to suffer some pain or disability for a longer period of time, and they're often patients who've been double vaccinated, they're elderly, and they've done everything right, but their knee replacement is being delayed and the public hospital waiting lists are growing.

"We're all juggling everything the best we can to avoid and prevent deaths.

"We know as we reopen it's the unvaccinated who are going to get Covid, and they are going to get great hospital treatment with many new experimental drugs, even though they think the vaccine is 'experimental'.

"A whole lot of these people are passionate disbelievers that the virus even exists. And they should notify their nearest and dearest and ensure there's an advanced care directive that says, 'If I am diagnosed with this disease caused by a virus that I don't believe exists, I will not disturb the public hospital system, and I'll let nature run its course'."

Melbourne officially came out of lockdown today (October 22) and it means a hell of a lot more freedoms for residents in the most locked down city on the planet.

More than 70 per cent of the state over the age of 16 has received both doses of the vaccine and that means people can finally start to get back to normal.

Dr McRae has encouraged Melburnians to get back out into the community and soak everything up, but warned those who aren't vaccinated to be very careful.

Featured Image Credit: Dmitry Rogulin/TASS/Alamy Live News

Topics: Australia