Politics

Young People In ICU Isn’t A COVID “Wake-Up Call”, It’s Proof We Need Vaccines

Dr Kerry Chant has been slammed for saying that young people need a "wake-up call" about COVID, when what we really need is to be vaccinated.

by Michelle Rennex  7 July 2021
dr kerry chant "wake up call" young people vaccines ICU

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In a press conference earlier today, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said that the number of under 35s currently in hospital as a result of COVID-19 should be a “wake-up call” for young people to take the virus seriously.

Dr Kerry Chant noted that the number of people from NSW currently in hospital dealing with coronavirus currently sits at 37 — 14 of which are under the age of 55, and eight who are under 35 — which should dispel the “myth” that COVID hospitalisation doesn’t affect young people.

“Currently we have 37 admitted to hospital and of these patients, there are seven people in ICU,” Dr Chant said. “Now, this is in the context that NSW Health also provides excellent home assessment and care, so the fact that 37 patients have been admitted to hospital should indicate to the community the fact that COVID, including the Delta strain, is not a mild disease.”

“Of that total 37, 14 are under the age of 55 which should dispel the myth that this is only that impacts on the elderly. And of those, eight are under the age of 35, which, again, should dispel that myth that it only leads to hospitalisation for the elderly.”

“Of the seven people in the ICU, one of them is in their 30s — a bit of a wake-up call to young people. One in their 50s, two in their 60s and three in their 70s.”

While these numbers are serious and concerning, Dr Chant was immediately criticised by young people who are well aware of the seriousness of COVID-19.

The issue here isn’t young people, or even older people, knowing that coronavirus is a very real concern. The issue is that the government can’t provide young people with the vaccines we so desperately want, while conflicting messaging about the safety of certain vaccines has confused and scared older people into not wanting to take the ones that are available to them.

The fact of the matter is most under 40s — bar rich private school boys at St Joseph’s College — can’t access the vaccines that would help prevent these hospitalisations that Dr Kerry Chant thinks young people don’t take seriously.

It’s a bit of a giant cop-out to essentially blame young people for the federal government’s gross incompetence when it comes to handling a pandemic and trying to manage a smooth vaccine roll-out.

To say that people under 40 need to “wake up” and stop believing in these alleged “myths” about who coronavirus can and cannot impact is just deflection at its finest. Young people are awake and aware, and they can see that the chance of getting vaccinated any time soon isn’t very likely.

The bigger question at hand should be why isn’t the government encouraging older people to get vaccinated during these press conferences, considering over 75 percent of those currently in the hospital for COVID-19 in NSW are over the age of 35 and therefore are most likely eligible to be vaccinated?

At the end of the day, are young people really to blame if boomers end up hospitalised because they’re able to be vaccinated and choose not to be when people under 40 don’t even get to chance to make that decision? After all, it’s pretty hard to forget that the latest spread of COVID-19 quite literally happened because a quarantine worker in his 60s was able to get vaccinated, but just didn’t despite working with returning flight staff.

So let’s not start pointing any fingers now Dr Kerry Chant, shall we?