As we approach the end of 2024, we take a moment to look back on the successes and events of the year.
- Giving evidence to Parliament
- Politics
- Compensation
- Research
- International community
- Mainstream media coverage
- Tax deductible donations
Giving evidence to Parliament
The year started with a bang, as COVERSE was invited to present public evidence at an Australian Senate inquiry in early February. The Senate was tasked with preparing terms of reference for a potential COVID-19 Royal Commission.
Co-founders Dr Rado Faletič and Rachel O’Reilly answered questions from Senators regarding the appalling situation being faced by Covid vaccine-injured Australians, and many of the structural challenges that continue to stand in the way of informed consent, medical treatment, and compensation.
While the Committee’s report strongly recommended that the Government establish a Royal Commission, it is disappointing, although unsurprising, that it has chosen to reject the Senate’s recommendation.
Then in June, COVERSE was invited to provide evidence at another Senate inquiry, looking into the issue of excess mortality. Dr Faletič was joined by disability advocate Kara Potter who delivered powerful testimony of her journey and situation.
It is unfortunate that the Committee conducting this inquiry decided to withhold a large number of relevant submissions from public view, included submissions from medical doctors who have undertaken significant work with vaccine-injured patients as well as reviewing cases of deaths following Covid vaccination.
In addition to the two above-mentioned inquiries, COVERSE also made submissions to a number of other federal and state inquiries on a broad range of topics that affect our community. This included inquiries into the new NDIS changes, Foundational Supports, and proposed legislation that would compel social media companies to censor Covid vaccine-injured users under the pretext of curbing the spread of misinformation.
All of our public submissions can be found online at: coverse.org.au/submissions
Politics
During the year, a number of high-profile political figures expressed regret that concerns surrounding the Covid vaccines (including mandates) were not taken as seriously as they should have been. For example, Dr Nick Coatsworth (former Deputy Chief Medical Officer) and Dominic Perrottet (former Premier of NSW). While we appreciate them saying so in public, it does not undo the harms and abandonment faced by those who have lost loved ones or been injured by the Covid vaccines.
COVERSE has, and will continue to, work with politicians of all political persuasions in order to advocate for Covid vaccine injured and bereaved Australians. During the year, we were able to foster new engagements with the Greens and independent Teals in Federal Parliament, in addition to the conservative figures who have been supportive since the early days of the Covid vaccine program.
Compensation
2024 saw the Government’s Covid Vaccine Claims Scheme come to an end. Despite the vaccination rollout continuing, and despite not having a replacement compensation program in place, the current government has ignored the recommendations of multiple Senate inquiries to review the scheme, and ignored letters from many members of the public and the vaccine-injured community as well as several sitting politicians to review, reform and extend the scheme.
While we are disappointed at the ending of the scheme and the Government’s unwillingness to speak with anyone with a vaccine injury, this doesn’t end the quest for compensation for the many thousands of Australians whose lives have been destroyed by the Covid vaccines.
We are finally hearing accounts of patients who suffer from Long Vax being acknowledged with workers’ compensation, and Dr Melissa McCann’s class action in the federal court has progressed (and currently awaiting judgment regarding a motion by the respondent’s legal counsel to seek to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the respondents did not have a duty of care in their decisions to approve the vaccines).
Research
Around the world, several billion dollars in medical research funding has been earmarked for researching COVID-19 and Long Covid. Sadly, almost none of this is being utilised to investigate Covid vaccine injuries, despite a significant degree of overlap in symptoms between Long Covid and Post-Acute COVID-19 Vaccination Syndrome (PACVS), or “Long Vax”, and despite some estimates suggesting that perhaps as many as 1% of vaccinated patients have experienced some degree of post-vaccine complications that did not resolve quickly.
Due to this dearth of research activity on vaccines injuries, scientists and doctors amongst the vaccine-injured community have come together to develop and undertake an international research study on vaccine injuries.
Led by React19 and the University of Maryland in the USA, COVERSE continues to actively contribute to the research and analysis of study results, and we expect findings to be published during 2025. In the meantime, Covid vaccine-injured patients who haven’t completed the survey are still able to participate by going to react19.org/study
Closer to home, Professor Gemma Carey, vaccine-injured public policy academic from the University of New South Wales, and colleagues undertook a study which analysed Covid vaccine-injury case reports in the medical literature and compared them with the scope of injuries that the now-defunct Covid-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme compensated for. Rachel O’Reilly from COVERSE was co-author on the article, which received good media coverage. Sadly, Professor Carey passed away in later November. We will miss her greatly.
International community
In every country, Covid vaccine-injured and bereaved citizens are facing the same types of challenges and roadblocks as those of us here in Australia. In November, the international coalition of national Covid vaccine-injury groups formed the Covid Vaccine Injury Alliance (CVIA).
The CVIA serves to facilitate the flow of information and insights between our national organisations, and provides a single banner under which we can undertake coordinated activities (such as Vaccine Injury Awareness Month).
Political change is challenging and often feels slow, but it is heartening to see that in some other countries there are major activities taking place that will have flow-on effects that benefit Covid vaccine-injured people all over the world. Some of these initiatives include:
- Post-Vac-Syndrom in Germany working closely with medical scientists to research PACVS, focussed on identifying patterns of autoantibodies and other key blood markers
- UKCV Family having core participant status in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
- ScottishVIG with similar status in the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry
- React19 in the USA, along with several of its members, being involved in a number of legal actions against the US Government, including Brianne Dressen (founder of React19) suing AstraZeneca, and
- Brook Jackson (USA) and Augusto Roux (Argentina) continue to working hard to have their evidence of alleged clinical trial fraud to be heard and adjudicated in court.
Mainstream media coverage
Notable mainstream media coverage was achieved in 2024, including the following stories:
7NEWS Spotlight included discussion of the Covid vaccines as part of a special, called After Covid, that sought to undertake an analysis and discussion of decisions made during the pandemic. Notable segments included a presentation of the circumstances causing Katie Lees’ death and interviews with her family, discussion of challenges being faced by patients with COVERSE founder Jackie Stricker-Phelps and her wife Dr Kerryn Phelps, and an audience discussion with panel members. The whole program is now free to watch on YouTube.
ABC Background Briefing delivered an episode, called The Inconvenient Patients, informed by interviews with a large number of vaccine-injured Australians. While the aired program focused on recorded interviews with music photographer Michelle Grace-Hunder and Katie Lees’ mother Penny, they were presented in a way that accurately and compassionately captured the experiences of very many who have suffered Covid vaccine harms. The episode is available via podcast and the ABC website.
Tax deductible donations
And to wrap-up this wrap-up, COVERSE was confirmed as a Deductible Gift Recipient during the year (backdated to our formation in August 2022). This means that, in addition to being a registered charity, donations to us of more than $2 are tax deductible.
COVERSE exists purely due to the selfless contribution of time from our board members and volunteers, in addition to donations from the public. We have not received any funding from governments, pharmaceutical corporations, medical groups, or any other organisations or individuals with vested interests in the Covid vaccines.
Click on the above button to make a donation or to learn how to set up your own fundraiser for COVERSE via Facebook or GoFundMe.
Thank you to every one of our board members, volunteers, supporters, and allies, from all of us at COVERSE. ❤️
