Federal fury over Queensland scaremongering on COVID and children
A furious political row has deepened divisions over the national plan to ease lockdowns after federal ministers slammed a âscaremongeringâ claim from Queensland about the danger to children from rising coronavirus cases.
Angry at new objections to the agreed plan, the federal government accused Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk of misleading Australians over the risks to children if and when restrictions are eased and case numbers might increase.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tapped into community anxiety on the fact children under 12 canât yet be vaccinated against COVID-19.Credit:Matt Dennien
Health experts have warned against panic about children being exposed to the virus when steady increase in vaccinations among older Australians results in a greater proportion of cases among those under 12, given there is no approved vaccine for this age group.
Tapping into community anxiety on the issue, Ms Palaszczuk said the health modelling in the national plan needed to be revised to consider infections among children, citing concerns about a âpandemic of the unvaccinatedâ in the United States.
âUnless there is an answer on how these young people are going to be vaccinated, you are putting this most vulnerable population at risk,â she said.
âThere are many steps ahead of us toward this plan but the number one thing we can do is get as many of our population vaccinated as possible now.â
The impact of the virus on children was part of modelling by the Doherty Institute presented to national cabinet in recent weeks, including sections on the low rate of infections among children compared to older age groups.
âWhile intense school-based mixing is anticipated between children aged 5 to 14, the transmission matrix accounts for the relatively low observed infectiousness of this age group, associated with a high proportion of asymptomatic infections,â the report said.
The federal government believes Ms Palaszczukâs stance is unsustainable because it would mean keeping restrictions in place until a vaccine is approved for children when there is no health advice on when that might be.
One federal source said the Premierâs argument was âwe will never open upâ even if this meant closing tourism businesses on the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef.
Medical experts have warned against alarm about the rate of infection among the young, given public data showing very low rates of serious illness among children.
âThey can catch infection easily but most cases have no or mild symptoms. You might not even know youâve had COVID-19,â Robert Booy, professor of child health at the Childrenâs Hospital at Westmead, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last week.
Murdoch Childrenâs Research Institute paediatrician Fiona Russell said last month the most recent experience in the United Kingdom suggested no increase in risks to children.
âNo increase in COVID hospitalisations in children. No evidence of increased severity of Delta in children,â Professor Russell said.
Federal government figures show low rates of serious illness and very few admissions to intensive care units among people aged under 14 during the pandemic. There have been no deaths among those aged 14 and under.
So far this year only 2.9 per cent of COVID-19 cases in children aged under 14 were admitted to hospital with the virus across NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, according to federal figures.
One Sydney boy, aged 15, died with meningitis and COVID-19 last month, the only death of any Australian under 20. Of the 1,006 deaths from the virus in Australia to August 31, two were among people aged 20 to 29, compared to 924 among those aged 70 and over.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the advice from medical experts showed the need for caution with children but that this did not mean halting the national plan to ease restrictions in two stages when the vaccination rate reaches 70 and 80 per cent of those aged 16 and over.
Mr Frydenberg cited warnings from former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry, a mental health expert and professor at the University of Melbourne, about the âshadow pandemicâ placing pressure on all Australians including the young.
âWe are focused on the health outcome of preventing people getting the virus but there is another health outcome and itâs the ... shadow pandemic.
âIt is the one about kids really struggling from being out of the classroom and kids who are really struggling from not being with their grandparents or not being with their friends,â Mr Frydenberg said.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews denounced the Queensland Premierâs remarks as âscaremongeringâ.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
With Ms Palaszczukâs remarks intensifying the debate over the risks to children, the federal government called a press conference in which Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews denounced the Premierâs remarks as âscaremongeringâ because it was at odds with advice from health experts.
The federal attack centred on the fact that no country had begun vaccinating children aged under 12, which meant it was not reasonable to delay the national plan to wait for a vaccine to be tested and approved for this age group.
âClearly everyone is concerned about Australiaâs children but there is no country in the world that is vaccinating anyone under 12 years of age,â Ms Andrews said.
âItâs also very clear that the best way to protect our children is to make sure that we, as adults, are vaccinated.
âThe Queensland Premier is quite clearly doubling down on âletâs keep Queensland closedâ and the federal government is of the view that Queensland should be open.â
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David Crowe is chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.
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