A former nurse has backtracked on outlandish claims the army is going door-to-door in Sydney suburbs and forcing residents to have the Covid vaccine.
Naomi Cook shared a ‘warning’ to people in the suburbs of Fairfield, Blacktown and Mount Druitt – all in Sydney’s west or southwest – which sparked fear and panic among constituents.
She claimed that she was told the military were going ‘door-to-door late at night armed with the vaccine in hand’.
Defence forces have been enlisted to support police in maintaining compliance with lockdown orders. They’ve also delivered food packages to struggling residents.
Naomi Cook shared a ‘warning’ to people in the suburbs of Fairfield, Blacktown and Mount Druitt – all in Sydney’s west or southwest, which sparked fear and panic among constituents
She claimed that she was told the military were going ‘door to door late at night armed with the vaccine in hand’
In actuality, the ADF are providing logistical support, even delivering emergency food supplies to people in lockdown
But Ms Cook, who also goes by ‘Nurse Naomi’, falsely alleged they were forcing residents into the streets in the dead of night, demanding they not film, and were told they would be ‘coerced and pressured into’ having the jab.
‘Everyone in the neighbourhood refused the vaccine and they were told [officers] would return within the week to coerce and pressure them,’ she said in a since deleted post.
‘Please if you live in the above suburbs try to record the event and spread it far and wide… This was my friend’s nephews.’
After the post gained traction within anti-vaccine communities, Ms Cook was forced to backtrack on the claims.
She later claimed she was simply asking for ‘further’ experiences and did not mean to alarm anybody by sharing the post.
Ms Cook, who also goes by ‘Nurse Naomi’, falsely alleged they were forcing residents into the streets in the dead of night, demanding they not film the altercation, and were told they would be ‘coerced and pressured into’ having the jab
Australian Defence Force personnel are pictured enforcing the city’s lockdown in Fairfield in Sydney’s south-west on Monday morning
Ms Cook removed the post within two hours after she realised her followers were spooked by the messaging, clarifying she ‘never wants to scare anyone’.
There has been no corroborating evidence to back up the claims, and Ms Cook later explained that there was simply ‘pressure to consider getting vaccinated’ rather than military personnel ‘armed with vaccines’ as first stated.
In the same clarification post, she referred to Covid-19 as ‘CoNvid’.
Vaccinations are demonstrably saving the lives of Sydneysiders, proven by new data which revealed there isn’t a single fully-immunised Covid patient in intensive care.
Australia’s acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, confirmed on Monday that the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are keeping people out of hospital, even as high case numbers in New South Wales persist.
Of the 2,700 cases of the Delta variant that have been recorded in NSW throughout this outbreak, 93 per cent of diagnoses were in unvaccinated people.
A further six per cent of known cases were identified in people who have only had a single jab, meaning they weren’t entirely protected.
That leaves just one per cent if the infected NSW population who have had both jabs – but not a single one of them wound up in intensive care as a result of the virus.
Defence forces have been enlisted to support police in maintaining compliance with lockdown order
Of the 2,700 cases of the Delta variant that have been recorded in NSW throughout this outbreak, 93 per cent of diagnoses were in unvaccinated people. A further six per cent of known cases were identified in people who have only had a single jab, meaning they weren’t entirely protected
Australia’s acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, confirmed on Monday that the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are keeping people out of hospital. Pictured: People lining up for Covid testing in Brisbane
There are 53 Covid patients in intensive care units throughout NSW. Professor Kidd said 96 per cent were unvaccinated.
Four per cent have had one shot.
None of the 15 deaths recorded that have been linked to this outbreak were fully vaccinated.
The statistics illustrate what Premier Gladys Berejikilan, her right-hand woman Dr Kerry Chant, and experts globally have been saying since the rollout of the vaccine: It is designed to keep you out of hospital.
Anti-vaccination rhetoric has relied on the fact that people can still contract and pass on Covid even after the jab.
Pictured: People queuing to receive their vaccine at the hub in Homebush
But studies show those who do catch Covid after they’ve been vaccinated are far less likely to have a severe case or die. They’re also less likely to transmit the virus, though it is still possible.
When Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a roadmap out of repeated lockdowns last week, he made clear that high vaccination rates remain the key.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s latest advice states that increased transmissibility of the Delta variant outweighs any minor risks associated with the AstraZeneca jab.
‘In a large outbreak, the benefits of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are greater than the risk of rare side effects for all age groups,’ the advice states.
‘ATAGI reiterates that all adults in greater Sydney should strongly consider the benefits of earlier protection with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca rather than waiting for alternative vaccines.’
Six Australians have died as a result of developing blood clots after receiving their AstraZeneca jab, out of about 12.3million doses administered.
None of the 15 deaths recorded that have been linked to this outbreak were fully vaccinated