John MacDonald: How I feel now about the vaccine mandates

‘If you think I’m a Jacinda Ardern puppet, you’re going to get a huge surprise’. 

Who’s saying that, do you think?  

It’s Professor Tony Blakely – the epidemiologist and public health expert who has chaired the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.   

And I’m feeling the same way he’s feeling about the COVID vaccination mandates. I don’t know if you can call it “buyer’s remorse” but, like Tony Blakely, I would feel very differently about forcing people to get vaccinated next time around.   

So his report on the first phase of the inquiry is being handed over to the Government today, which means his work is done and a new person is taking over to run Phase Two.  

You’ll remember there was a bit of political furore over Blakely running the inquiry when he was among the cast of thousands of health experts who were in the news day-after-day during the pandemic.  

But it seems any concerns about him not being independent enough to do a proper or thorough investigation —without fear or favour— it seems they might not have been justified. That’s going by what he’s been saying in the last 24 hours.  

We won’t know for sure how critical his report is until the Government releases it. At this stage, that’s not going to happen until at least next year. The reason the Government’s giving for that is that it wants Phase Two of the Inquiry to be well under way before we get to see this report.  

Professor Blakely says his view on vaccine mandates has evolved.  

He thinks we went over-the-top with the vaccine mandates. And that’s where I’m at too. And yes, I was one of those people who talked about ‘no jab, no job’, I’ll admit that.  

But that was me then, and this is me now. Because, for me, I’d never experienced a pandemic before. Or more to the point, I’d never experienced such an intense public vaccination programme before.  

Whether I can be accused of drinking the Kool Aid, I’m not sure. I don’t know, but what I do know is that if there’s ever something like this again, you won’t hear me banging the drum in favour of vaccine mandates.  

If you think that makes me a hypocrite, you’re welcome to think that. But, as Tony Blakely seems to have done as well, my thinking has shifted. That’s something he reckons the people in charge of our COVID should have done a bit more of at the time, as well.   

Now you might say that hindsight is a great thing, and I'd agree with you. But it doesn't mean you can’t change your mind, which is why I now think forcing people to get vaccinated was a big mistake.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Right, if you think, if you think I'm a j
Cinderadun puppet, You're going to get a huge surprise. Who's
saying that you reckon? It's not me. You might have
thought it was me, but it's not me. It's Professor
Tony Blakely. He's the epidemiologist and public health expert who
has chaired the first phase of the Royal Commission of

(00:35):
Inquiry into New Zealand's response to the COVID nineteen pandemic.
And you know what, I'm feeling the same way he's
feeling about the COVID vaccination mandates. I don't know if
you can call it buyer's remorse, but like Tiny Blakely,
from what he's been saying today, I would feel very

(00:58):
differently about forcing people to get vaccinated next time round.
So his report why he's in the use today. His
report on the first phase of the inquiries being handed
over to the government this afternoon, which means his work
is done and then a new person is taking over
to run phase two. You remember there was a bit
of a what we call it a political furial ray

(01:21):
over the fact that Tony Blakeley was running the inquiry
when he was one of those where he was among
the cast of thousands of healthy experts who were in
the news day after day during the pandemic. But it
seems any concerns about him not being independent enough, or
not being prepared to be independent enough to do a

(01:41):
proper or a thorough job or a thorough investigation, it
seems those fears might not have been justified. That's going
by what he's been saying this morning and in the
last twenty four hours. We won't know for sure, you
know why. We won't know for sure how critical his
report is until the government releases it, and at the

(02:03):
stage that's not going to happen until at least next year.
The reason the government's giving for that is that it
wants Phase two of the inquiry to be well under
way before we get to see this report on Phase one.
Peter Blakeley he feels differently about that. He thinks it's
nonsense saying today that he thinks it should be released
right now. What's more, Phase two starts tomorrow, so you know,

(02:23):
the government could easily give give it a few weeks
and have the report out for all of us to
see before Christmas. But anyway, today Professor Blakeley was on
with Mike and he said his view on the vaccine
mandates has evolved.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Have listened to this, I think we've all learnt a lot.
What I will say at this point is that you know,
mandates are sort of a top shelf thing. You should
only really be using them when you absolutely have to.
And we've got a lot to say about that report.
If I can reflect overseas previous Premier Purite New South
Wales Conservative government in his valedictory speech, who said is

(03:00):
one major regret was the over use of mandates and compulsion.
And I think for a lot of us around the
world or a learning that those mandates might have gone
a bit too far for a bit too long.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
So it's pretty clear, isn't it what Tony Blankly thinks.
You see, he can't say it out right because he's
not allowed to talk about the report itself until it's
publicly released. But he's not hiding anything there is he
he thinks And his report obviously says that we went
over the top with the vaccine mandates. And that's where
I'm at too, and yep, I get it. You might be.

(03:33):
You might be yelling at the radio right now saying
you know how I was one of those people who
talked about no jab, no job. I'll admit that. I'll
admit it. Yep, you're right. But that was me then
and this is me now because for me, I'd never
experienced a pandemic before. You probably hadn't either, Or more

(03:53):
to the point, I've never experienced such an intense public
vaccination program before. You possibly hadn't either. And whether I
can be accused of drinking the cool aid back then,
whether I can be accused of getting sucked in, but
I'm not sure. I don't know. But what I do
know is that if there is ever something like this again,

(04:15):
you won't hear me banging the drum in favor of
vaccine mandates. And if you think that makes me a hypocrite,
you are more than welcome to think that. But as
tiny Blakely seems to have done as well, my thinking
has shifted, and that's something he reckons people in charge
of our COVID response should have done a bit more
of at the time as well.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
I think that people both the all of the policy people,
the Bloomfelds, the academics, the bakers, and the government Viadorens,
if you like, everybody was doing the best that they
possibly could and making decisions and incredibly complicated and fast
moving circumstances going forward. And again the UK in Enquiry

(04:56):
has made this quite clear and respect as well. It's
really really really important to make sure that you have
a diversity of advice coming in and that you're very
agile and you I don't get stuck in your ways.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
And that is exactly what the labor government did ay.
It got stuck in its ways until it realized that
it was stuck in a corner. And I vividly remember this.
It seemed overnight the shackles all came off and we
were left to fend for ourselves. It was control, control
and then complete hands off. Now again, you might say

(05:29):
that hindsight, oh a great thing. Yep, I degree hindsight
is a great thing. That it doesn't mean you can't
change your mind, which is why I now think that
forcing people to get vaccinated was a mistake.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
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