9 News, 2 April 2017:
Parents who oppose vaccinations on conscientious grounds will no longer be allowed to enrol their children at New South Wales child care centres under legislation to be introduced by the state opposition.
Labor leader Luke Foley announced the policy today and said the legislation, set to be introduced this week, would plug the loophole which had allowed specialist anti-vaccination child care centres to be set up.
The changes will not affect children who can't be vaccinated because of a medical condition such as a specialised cancer treatment.
“We need to be encouraging vaccinations not discouraging them," Mr Foley said in a statement.
"Vaccinations are the only way to protect against serious diseases like polio, mumps, whooping cough, meningococcal, diphtheria and tetanus."
Mr Foley said his plan would also cover family day care operations.
The announcement comes after an unvaccinated NSW girl was diagnosed with tetanus earlier this month.
It is believed the seven-year-old picked up the disease through an open wound on her foot while playing in the garden of her home in the state’s north.
The case prompted renewed debate in the north coast region, which has some of the lowest immunisation rates in Australia.
The Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2017:
A five-week-old baby boy is fighting for life after a catastrophic brain haemorrhage followed his parents decision to decline a routine vitamin K shot given to all newborns.
The baby, from northern NSW, presented to Lismore base hospital last week with bleeding on the brain before being transferred to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane where he remains in a very serious condition. If he survives, he will likely be severely disabled.
Vitamin K is the new battleground of the anti-vaccination movement which has been scaring thousands of parents into rejecting the shot — a safe injection which has saved hundreds of children dying of Newborn Haemorrhagic Disease.
The Sunday Telegraph is today calling on the Federal Government to add the vitamin K injection to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) and tie it to Commonwealth family payments.
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