A shire in regional Western Australia has backflipped on a decision to pay staff to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after a hostile response from ratepayers.
The Shire of Manjimup, located 300 kilometres south of Perth, was offering a one-off payment from $300 to $500 if staff could prove they were fully vaccinated before February 2022.
But following the announcement the shire received a barrage of negative feedback from the community.
It was estimated that the vaccine incentive program would cost the shire $60,000.
The shire will now discuss whether to go ahead with the payments at its council meeting on September 30.
"The community is saying to us that they are concerned about this decision," shire president Paul Omodei said.
AMA says incentive could backfire
The Australia Medical Association said it supported any measure to increase vaccinations, but the move by the Manjimup shire could be a double-edged sword.
WA branch president Mark Duncan-Smith said the move had the potential to cause hesitancy in itself.
"I would really move away from a monetary gain for getting vaccinated to really do it for yourself, for your family, for your grandparents, your children."
'COVID is going to come to Western Australia'
Earlier this week Shire chief executive officer Andrew Campbell said he provided the incentive because he was concerned about levels of complacency in the community.
"To be perfectly frank, COVID is going to come to Western Australia … it will either be unintentional, through some sort of transmission, or when the borders are open," Mr Campbell said.
"COVID will come to these local communities and that's my biggest concern."
Statistics from the Federal Health Department updated on Monday reveal Manjimup has the highest rate of first doses within the South West region.
