Prominent doctor Nick Coatsworth said the harsh lockdowns and school closures of the Covid pandemic era were not “evidence-based” as he also dealt brutal blows to former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.
Dr Coatsworth, who was deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic, was responding to the Covid-19 Response Inquiry Report released on Tuesday, which found tough measures caused Australians to lose faith in health authorities.
He said that although the report focused on federal action, it had “a very strong message for state premiers”.
“There is a need to make evidence-based decisions as much as the federal government does,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
‘Everything from taping closed playgrounds in Melbourne to telling people they are going to catch Covid at the MCG, none of it was particularly evidence-based, but it persisted long into 2021.
“I’m so sorry to say it, but if you’re sitting in Victoria, there needs to be some soul-searching about the support that was given to those policies.”
The inquiry report, by Robyn Kruk, Professor Catherine Bennett and Dr Angela Jackson, said the state isThe measures enacted under the Biosafety Law were restrictive.”
“Their broader economic, social and mental impacts on health and human rights were not always understood or taken into account,” the report states.
Leading Australian doctor Nick Coatsworth said those fired for refusing Covid vaccines were owed an apology if governments regained trust lost during the pandemic.
“The response to the pandemic should have moved from being based on the precautionary principle of ‘better safe than sorry’… to a risk-based and evidence-based approach.”
The report found that while the National Cabinet’s Australian Health Protection Principal Committee “during the pandemic did not recommend school closures”, this was done, particularly in Victoria, which sent children home for months.
This contributed to a devastating effect on young people’s mental health: one study found that more than 50 per cent of children in Victoria reported symptoms of depression and 25 per cent reported symptoms of anxiety.
“There were increased risks for students with pre-existing mental health problems, but 20 percent experienced mental health problems for the first time,” the report says, noting spikes in self-harm, particularly among teenage girls, as well as eating disorders. .
This led Dr Coatsworth to question the recent appointment of Mr Andrews as chairman of the non-profit youth mental health agency Orygen.
“If you were the board of directors of Orygen, you should surely have known these statistics and thought twice before appointing the person responsible,” he said.
Dr Coatsworth told Channel Nine’s Today program on Wednesday that he thought those who lost their jobs for refusing Covid vaccines were owed an apology.
“When we, I look at myself because I was part of this apparatus, were pushing vaccine mandates and people were losing their jobs because they weren’t getting vaccinated, that really eroded trust,” Dr. Coatsworth said.
“And I think if there’s one thing we take away from this very extensive report – and, you know, I think I’ve done that on this show – it’s (we should) apologize to the people who lost their jobs because of vaccine mandates.
Dr Coatsworth was particularly scathing of the prolonged draconian measures taken by Victoria and then-premier Dan Andrews (pictured).
“If we start doing that, if maybe more people besides me say that, then we can start down the path of rebuilding trust among those people who maybe don’t even trust our childhood vaccination program anymore.”
The inquiry report also noted an increase in domestic violence during the pandemic.
“A significant number of women and children experienced violence for the first time, and… there was also an increase in the severity of violence during the pandemic,” she said.
Unfortunately, this was not a surprise, Dr. Coatsworth said.
“I remember this being talked about in the media when schools closed, about those for whom home is not a safe place,” he said.
‘If you’re going to be confined, or forced by the police to stay in your own home, then you better have a way to help those people.
“That wasn’t a surprise result, people knew it would be that way at the time.”
Dr Coatsworth said that although “the effectiveness of the two-dose regimen of the Covid vaccine was astonishing”, those harmed by the jabs have been treated poorly, often by dismissive doctors.
“This speaks to the issue of trust: can we rebuild the confidence of Australians that, regardless of how we report, people don’t feel like they’re turned on, or that their doctors are afraid of their record or that their doctor just not listening to them,’ he said.
Dr Coatworth noted that the closure of playgrounds and the closure of schools during the pandemic was not particularly “evidence-based”
‘How are we going to do that and restore trust? Damage compensation systems were insufficient.’
Dr. Coatsworth admitted it would be difficult to reimpose vaccine mandates.
“If we ever reintroduce mandates, they can be changed based on evidence,” he said.
“The immediate question is what can we do to regain the trust of a relatively small but important percentage of people who have lost faith in our vaccine program.”
As someone who was at the center of Australia’s response to Covid, Dr Coatsworth said the report had given him no reason to regret.
“It hasn’t made me rethink anything at all,” he said.
“What it has done is reinforce some of the things I’ve been saying publicly since mid-2021.”
‘It is important not to see the report as a tick or a cross against decisions. “It’s a great plan to regain confidence and do better next time.”
Dr Coatsworth said those who opposed prolonged draconian measures, including himself at times, were easily silenced.
“This report demands open debate and transparent evidence-gathering,” he said.
‘We need to start by not shouting or ridiculing people who start to question what we are doing.
“Let’s not smear people who have a different view on how we should do things.”