A petition opposing mandatory vaccinations for teachers and students in New South Wales has gathered the support of over 52,000 concerned parents and educators.
The online petition, addressed to NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning, Sarah Mitchell, along with NSW Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard was launched last week after the state government said all teaching staff in NSW must be injected with a COVID vaccine by November 8.
Georgina Harrison, Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, told the Daily Mail the move will mean teachers must essentially choose between unemployment and accepting the vaccination.
“It will mean under the public health order that [teachers] are lawfully unable to work for us, and we will have to look at measures such as leave without pay until someone could get vaccinated, or possibly terminating their employment because it will be a requirement of employment,” Harrison said.