Samantha* has lost her relationship, been barred from seeing her mother in hospital and been out of work for almost a year — the longest she’s ever been unemployed — but it’s still not enough to convince her to get vaccinated.

The 44-year-old’s refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine, puts her among the 5 per cent of adult Australians who have not had even one dose against the virus.

She says her life has been ruined by her reluctance to get the jab but that’s not enough to get her to change her mind.

“I’m actually scared,” she told news.com.au about why she didn’t want to get vaccinated.

The Melbourne resident said she has had friends and family who had experienced vaccine-related side effects such as heart issues. But her stance is also a matter of principle.

“I don’t feel I should have to do something I don’t want to do in order to make a living — especially a medical procedure,” she said.

Around Australia, about 94 per cent of residents in most states and territories, except for the Northern Territory, have had two doses of the vaccine.

Sydney University vaccination update expert Julie Leask said authorities had “gone as far as we can with two-dose mandates”.

“Mandates have done their work, we have reached that ceiling, 97 per cent of Australians over 16 have had one dose, and more than 95 per cent have had two doses,” she said.

She said there was only about 2.7 per cent of the population aged over 16 years old who had refused to get any Covid vaccination.

“They are so strong in their views that they have quit their jobs, lost income, and might have lost housing etc,” she said.

“You have to consider these people in making laws and where possible, where it’s reasonable, to enable them to work.

“Having said that, there are certain workplaces where the importance of protecting people of high risk outweighs that personal liberty issue.”

Speaking to Samantha and others, there’s no question they are willing to stand by their decision.

Samantha was not able to visit her mother in hospital — after she was diagnosed with lung cancer last year — for seven months. This was partly because of visitation restrictions at hospitals during lockdowns but there was a period she was blocked because she was not vaccinated.

“Our precious time together was stolen because of all this,” she said.

While Samantha did think about getting the jab at this time, she said she just couldn’t go through with it.

“I couldn’t bring myself to do a medical procedure I didn’t want and I was scared,” she said.

“I just kept thinking that surely they would have some compassion and would start softening these restrictions.”

She has also been unable to find a new job since July last year, when her contract wasn’t renewed for a role as a council parking officer partly because of lockdown. Despite getting offers for new roles, she was unable to return to the industry due to vaccine mandates. She believes she lost about six major employment opportunities between October and January because she wasn’t vaccinated.

“I didn’t have issues finding work previously,” she said. “It’s been the first time I’ve been out of work for such a long period of time – before it might take a month or two to find something new or change direction.”

The pressure of being out of work so long also put strain on her three-and-a-half year relationship. While the break-up was not directly related to her refusal to get vaccinated, Samantha said the financial stress caused by her unemployment led to fights.

“We made it through lockdown and a lot of obstacles but it just took its toll in the end,” she said.

Despite these setbacks Samantha said she still didn’t want to get vaccinated.

“After all the loss and suffering, why would I do it now? I’ve lost so much and gone through so much.”

Samantha says she is worried about getting Covid, and does take protective measures such as wearing a mask and avoiding crowded places.

“If I felt there was a safer vaccine that had less side effects, better efficacy and a more traditional base — I would consider it.”

She said she did take Covid-19 seriously and wanted to contribute to others being safe.

“I wanted so badly to have an open mind and understand all sides but I felt that wasn’t being returned,” she said.

“On top of everything else that was really hard — feeling like an outcast from the community.

“I’m from the LGBTI community but I’ve never felt more discriminated against in my life than I have in the past year since vaccines were introduced.”

In order to protect her mum from getting Covid, Samantha does a rapid antigen test before visiting and also wears a N95 mask. She said she would be OK with unvaccinated nurses treating her mother as long as they tested and wore a mask and visor.

“I would be absolutely fine with an unvaccinated nurse looking after my mum if all other safety measures were in place.”

‘Let the unvaccinated work’

Comments to news.com.au’s State of the Nation online survey revealed significant concern about vaccine mandates, which have continued to be enforced in workplaces around Australia.

“Vaccine mandates have destroyed people’s lives,” one reader wrote when asked about their attitude towards Australia’s economy since Covid.

Others said: “Let the unvaccinated work. Stop lying about the unvaccinated” and “Outraged at vaccine mandates and loss of freedom”.

“I do not like mandates – especially segregating people,” another person wrote.

Of the 14,251 survey responses from those aged over 18 — 47 per cent thought Australia had fared better than the rest of the world when it came to Covid.

Another 32 per cent said authorities had done a good job to combat the impacts of the virus.

However, 30 per cent thought Australia had gone backwards since Covid hit.

Readers were fairly evenly split on who they thought would do a better job with the post-Covid economy, with 28 per cent saying the Coalition would be better, compared to 27 per cent for Labor.

Opposition to vaccine mandates has been picked up by some politicians including United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, who are both against mandates.

While many states and territories have dropped vaccination mandates for most jobs except for health, disability, aged care and some child/education workers, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria still require those working in retail, hospitality and other settings to be double vaccinated.

A spokesman for the Victorian Department of Health said the vaccine mandates had served an important role in reducing Covid-19 transmission in the workplace, protecting people at risk of severe illness, and ensuring the health system was not overwhelmed.

“A number of critical and commonsense settings remain in place, including existing two-dose and three-dose vaccination mandates for workers,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor epidemiological conditions and work with experts on the most appropriate measures to keep the community safe.”

Even in states where vaccines are no longer a requirement in most sectors, some businesses are still choosing to enforce mandates for their staff.

Companies such as Virgin Australia, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, BHP, Woolworths and Coles have all decided to keep their vaccine requirements.

A spokesman for supermarket giant Woolworths said it had not changed its requirement for staff to be vaccinated as “we think this is the best way for our team members and customers to be protected”. No response to inquiries from Coles was received.

Some unvaccinated employees have brought unfair dismissal cases to the Fair Work Commission but have been unsuccessful, including against Telstra, KFC and Cleanaway. However, most of these cases related to jobs lost last year when state vaccine mandates were in place.

‘Weren’t we doing this to keep grandma safe?’

Another Victorian resident Rebecca* told news.com.au she didn’t understand why she couldn’t even get work in a supermarket.

“Why can I go shopping in Safeway (as an unvaccinated shopper) but I can’t work at Safeway?” she asked.

The 64-year-old said she previously worked as a personal carer in aged care but had accepted she would not be able to return to the industry she’s worked in since 1998.

Rebecca took time off work last year to look after her husband when he was diagnosed with cancer, but has been unable to return due to the introduction of vaccination mandates.

She says she is willing to do most jobs — wash dishes or work in a call centre — but every role requires her to be vaccinated. Even a work-from-home role for a call centre was impossible because she couldn’t attend the training sessions without getting vaccinated.

“I can’t get a job, and it’s definitely my vaccine status because everything is mandated,” she said.

Rebecca said the rules didn’t seem to be following the science.

“It doesn’t ring true and feels like punishment for not doing what I’m told,” she said.

She said her refusal to get vaccinated had also seen her lose friends of 45 years, who no longer spoke to her.

She’s also experienced abuse when she’s expressed her views on social media.

“People say they wish I would die and they hope I don’t get hospital treatment,” she said.

“I am a great grandma, I don’t understand this — weren’t we doing this to keep granny safe? And yet as a grandma I’m not even allowed to make my choices.

“I want to go back to work, I look for jobs every single day and my savings are running out.

“Nothing makes sense.”

Mandates won’t be justified in every workplace

When it comes to high-risk settings like aged care facilities, Prof Leask said it was easier to make the argument for mandatory vaccines, including for a third dose.

“Ethically it can be hard to justify the requirement to take a medicine if workers are just protecting themselves, but there can be a justification if you’re taking it to protect others,” she said.

In other settings, whether mandates were justified depended on the setting and how much contact there was with at-risk people.

“We do have an obligation to provide the most protection available to prevent Covid in workplaces where those at-risk are potentially exposed,” she said.

“However, requiring vaccinations has many downsides, including taking away autonomy and choice, which is an essential part of medical decision making.”

Prof Leask said some people were anxious about the tiny risks linked with getting vaccinated, even though they were often basing their views on the wrong information.

Enforcing mandates also often required a lot of paperwork and conflict for workplaces.

She said decisions on what mandates were reasonable should be made at the state level by health authorities or through workplace health and safety laws.

“Mandates have a very significant downside so any decision to require vaccinations in workplaces need to come with evidence of a high benefit,” she said.

This includes showing that any additional vaccine requirements such as boosters, would provide a good reduction in transmission.

“In some places that won’t be justified,” she said.

“A train driver with limited interaction with other workers, who are mostly healthy — I don’t think at this stage we can justify a mandate where interaction with others is limited and they are not at risk of severe disease.”

Prof Leask said the argument would be stronger for vaccine mandates in most workplaces if Covid vaccines were 100 per cent effective, or even 95 per cent effective, in stopping people from getting infected.

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“It’s reasonable in certain workplaces — where there are not many at high-risk — to allow those who are not vaccinated to return,” she said.

* Names have been changed

Do you have a story to tell? Email charis.chang@news.com.au

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