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An anti-vaccination event for mothers and their unimmunised children at a popular Melbourne attraction has sparked major concern.

News.com.au have reported that a Melbourne mother advertised via Facebook asking other anti-vaccination parents to gather at the Melbourne zoo on Wednesday.

She proposed that the event be moved to next weekend — when hundreds of families are likely to pack the zoo — if too many parents were working.

“Out of bad things great things happen,” the post said.

“I so want to put this on council websites as an event for anti-vaccine Moms (sic) and bubs catch up.”

Health authorities dubbed the post irresponsible. It comes less than a month after a Brisbane mother was slammed for advertising a chickenpox party on Facebook.

Melbourne Zoo director Kevin Tanner said: “The zoo is a public facility and open to everyone wishing to come to enjoy our wonderful wildlife”.

Acting Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said it was “completely irresponsible” for parents to fail to vaccinate.

Australian Medical Association Victorian president Tony Bartoni reassured parents that the event would not affect their vaccinated children.

“At the end of the day it is about the irresponsibility of the message that it’s fine not to vaccinate,” he said.

Anti-vaccine activist Brett Smith said any concern over the event was just hysteria.

“It is one thing to say the polio vaccine saved the world, it doesn’t mean a parent has to believe the hep B vaccine is appropriate for their one-day-old child,” he said.

Do you think the event is irresponsible or harmless?

Share your thoughts below.

 

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  • it is such a hard one – I had my son immunised…. then all that stuff about autism came out and guess what, my son is on the spectrum, so dunno… but god help the powers that be if I find out the vaccination did change my son…

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  • My concern is not that they are making a choice for their children but the way they are pushing it on others.

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  • I think not vaccinating your child without legitimate medical reasoning is irresponsible

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  • Wow… How can some bitches be so stupid? Can someone give me her details so I can knock some sense into her please? Why risk other children’s health to please your own ignorance? Please crawl back up the hole you came from.

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  • I think its totally irresponsible not to vaccinate your child. Vaccinations are there to help save lives. I’m so over these people. They listen to pseudoscience from people with no scientific knowledge and don’t care if they put other peoples children at risk.

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  • Each to there own if they choose not to do vaccinations,but this sort of event puts so many kids at risk its not ok.

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  • so did the event go ok? i haven’t heard about it since.

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  • We’ve seen Whooping Cough first hand, despite being vaccinated, but thankfully the result was a much more mild infection. I also went the extra mile and got permission for my older children to have an extra injection instead of the sabin liquid given to babies, because the sabin contained live cultures and anyone with autoimmune or cancer treatment were at risk if they had close contact with babies for 6 weeks after treatment. (Sabin has since been replaced and included with the other injections safely). I don’t understand anti-vac campaigners because the injections are to help prevent (or at least minimise) such severe diseases. It isn’t worth the risk!

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  • How can people decide to attend such an event? Vaccinations are important. Why put lives at risk??

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  • Vaccines do work and there is a great wealth of credible research and knowledge on the subject. We are fortunate to live in a country where every child can be vaccinated and protected from the diseases that some poor children die from in other countries.

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  • This is so irresponsible of these parents who plan to attend the anti vaccination party. They should not be going out in such a large group

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  • I think this is highly irresponsible. Yes they have a choice to have the vaccination or not but they should not be bringing such large numbers to a busy popular area.
    I just hope that so many other people see this and stay away in droves.

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  • I think it is irresponsible . If they want to antivax that is up to them. no need to put other kids ar risk

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  • i think that people are aware of the risks. it is unfair though to subject a little child to the consequences of your views. People will parent their own way though

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  • I think it is extreamly irresponsible. Many families take new bugs to young for the vaccines to the zoo and non vaccinated children can pass on all types of highly dangerous illnesses. I don’t care if parents take their unvaccinated children to the zoo but don’t advertise and arrange a mass gathering in a public place like that. It heightens the risk 1000%

    Reply

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