A former Australian premier has called for Medicare to be stripped from anti-vaxxers after Singapore took similar steps.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health recently announced Covid patients in hospitals who are not vaccinated from December 8 will be handed a bill, instead of the government paying for it.
But those who are not eligible for a Covid vaccine, like people aged under 12 years old or who are medically ineligible, will have their medical bills paid for by the government.
In a notice from Singapore’s Ministry of Health, it noted unvaccinated people currently make up a “sizeable majority” of those in intensive inpatient care and “disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources”.
On Twitter, former NSW premier Bob Carr called for Australia to follow Singapore’s lead.
“Follow Singapore and legislate no medical or hospital expenses to be reimbursed to people who are not vaccinated without medical justification and then contract Covid,” he tweeted.
“You ignored warnings and got the disease. You pay for your wilful stupidity, not the rest of us.”
Mr Carr followed up his initial tweet by saying for many Covid was a “death sentence”.