A Sydney teacher has described how their refusal to follow the vaccination mandate imposed on the educational sector led to them being compelled to work as a bartender.
The instructor, who wished to remain anonymous, sent a note through email to Ben Fordham of 2GB radio, who read it live on air on Tuesday morning.
The teacher wrote, “Ben — I am a highly sought-after teacher specializing in a topic with serious shortages.”
‘A dozen schools have offered me jobs, but I’ve had to turn them down because of my vaccine status.’
They revealed that they’ve been unemployed for ‘most of the last 6 months’ and were making ends meet as a bartender.
NSW teachers must have three Covid vaccine doses under the current mandate.
But that mandate could be thrown out in NSW from July 18, as the education department reveals plans to scrap vaccine mandates for most staff.
It would mean unvaccinated teachers could work in schools again from the beginning of Term 3.
Victoria and Queensland have ended vaccine mandates in schools.
While the rule will be relaxed in the school sector, unvaccinated employees won’t have the same luck in other sectors.
Fordham learned from a Bondi lifeguard that unvaccinated lifeguards like himself were set to lose their jobs.
‘I have over ten years’ experience on the beach. I am about to be fired due to the council’s vaccine policy’.
‘I’m now advised that I cannot patrol beaches from July 1. I have never been so depressed and worried about my future.’
The lifeguard said the council is already understaffed and is desperately searching for more staff, despite the policy banning unvaccinated workers.
Meanwhile, a NSW Rural Fire Service member also shared their experience of being unable to volunteer due to their unvaccinated status.
‘I want to volunteer at my local command centre, but my vaccination status bans me from entry,’ they said.
‘Why are we continuing down this path of discrimination? Didn’t the Premier recently state the mandates must end?’ they added.
NSW RFS staff and volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated to work.
Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, believes now is the time to start reconsidering mandates.
‘There is no doubt that mandates served a role,’ she began. ‘But I don’t think there is an argument for keeping them in place.
‘The difference between being unvaccinated and vaccinated is disappearing.’
Professor Bennett had told 3AW earlier this month that having two dose mandates is ‘outdated’ and ‘doesn’t really make sense’ due to the changing nature of the virus.
It comes as premier Dominic Perrottet told Fordham earlier this month that Covid vaccine mandates would be coming to an end.
Mr Perrottet said he had ‘made it very clear that we are ending vaccine mandates’ and had met with top bureaucrats to ask them to do so’.
‘They are working through those risk-based assessments and I expect them to come back to me shortly,’ he said. ‘I expect them to implement my direction.’