#covid19 #auspol "consent should be a voluntary choice, and should be based on sufficient information and…

#covid19 #auspol "consent should be a voluntary choice, and should be based on sufficient information and adequate understanding of both the proposed research and the implications of participation in it." From the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. 1/n

While vaccination programs aren't technically research, the current rollouts do collect data and evaluate and shift, in real-time. So they are research as well. Notwithstanding that, the issue of 'consent' for any medical procedure is being glossed over in this pandemic. 2/n

The 'implications' in particular, around the clotting issue, are being constantly summarised with phrases such as 'a tiny risk'. That seems fundamentally dishonest and unethical, to me, and confuses two types of risk. 3/n

A phenomenon where the chance of an outcome is tiny for every instance, like entering a lottery, is fairly described as a 'tiny' chance/risk for every participant. That's not what we have in the case of vaccinations and clots. 4/n

With the clots, a small but not insignificant number of people carry *all* of the risk. They have a 100% chance of developing a clot, from a vaccination. 20-25% of those people will die. For everybody else, the risk is zero. 5/n

It's profoundly misleading to describe this as a 'tiny risk' for everybody being vaccinated with the AZ vaccine. As some researchers are now saying, in countries with virus control, the risk of death from the AZ vaccine may be higher than from Covid. 6/n

We get many stern lectures from some experts about 'the greater good'. Having worked with the National Statement and HRECs for decades, this frankly amazes and even disgusts me. An emergency does not absolve us from doing ethical things, and thinking through consent. 7/n

In fact much of what is patronisingly being called 'vaccine hesitancy' I think is the outcome of zero attention being given to consent and ethical practice. 8/end

@rajah_mich @billbowtell in case of interest.