Letters to the Editor: Nurses are fed up but we will not give up

If you highlight simple facts over and over, you should be heard. How much louder do we need to be on the fact that nurse-to-patient ratios save lives, and they also save money?

Nurses are calm, caring, patient, down-to-earth, reasonable people. To see them walking out recently, not just at Belmont Hospital and Waratah, but across NSW, is a sure sign they've had enough.

They are angry. Angry, the government is taking their goodwill for granted. Angry the Treasurer is playing games with their wages. And all the while, saying nothing about the overwhelming need for nurse-to-patient ratios in NSW.

As an experienced mental health nurse, I know first-hand we've all had enough. Our colleagues across the state, from those in remote posts to those in major hospitals, have had enough.

We're sick of going to work never knowing if there will be sufficient staff to care for all of our patients. We're fed up tussling over a pay deal the government reneged on.

But we won't give up until the government hears us and understands.

There is no other option, because we have become the heralds in battle to save hundreds of lives.

REGARDING the Australian COVID-19 vaccination problems in the news lately, I think it's just so typical of politicians and their "political stuff-ups".

During the 1950s when polio vaccinations were given to school children at most schools, my 11-year-old brother died from polio in early 1960, probably due to a "political stuff-up."

The "free" polio vaccinations were given to school children about 1956 at most schools in the Hunter area, but it wasn't "free". There was a "charge" of about $5 (in today's money) for the polio shot, given at Maitland Public School, and as my two brothers aged six and eight years at the time in about 1956, did not have the "fee" on the day of the polio vaccination at the school they were both refused the "free" polio shot.

My father, who was a widower and worked full-time, was not informed about the polio vaccination at the school by my two brothers at the time. As a result both my brothers remained unvaccinated and in January 1960 my 11-year-old brother died at Maitland Hospital from polio after three weeks.

Had my beautiful baby brother been treated in a Sydney Hospital he probably would have survived from polio as iron lungs were in use there, but not at Maitland Hospital in 1960.

So it seems my baby brother died from polio because he didn't have the small fee to pay for the "free" polio shot on the day of the school polio vaccination program in 1956.

UNDER the Morrison plan, anti-vaxxers may need to retreat to isolated communes

Scott Morrison is running true to form. His four-stage "plan" to open up Australia fails to set dates. Morrison's government also refuses to set a date on the achievement of net zero CO2 emissions ("Australia's new 'return to normal' plan", Herald, 3/7).

Morrison's ambiguous message on the AstraZeneca vaccine is causing vaccine hesitancy and encouraging anti-vaxxers.

This is bad news, especially since the more deadly and contagious Delta variant of the virus is now in our midst, and "herd immunity" may now be 90 per cent.

If Morrison ever returns Australia to what he considers "normal" and if herd immunity is now as high as 90 per cent, anti-vaxxers will need to retreat to isolated communes to ensure their own safety.

SINCE when are Sydney and Central Coast people, who are supposed to be in lockdown, allowed to come to Newcastle to inspect real estate when they can't in lockdown areas?

This makes a mockery of lockdown rules intended to reduce circulation of the very contagious Delta variant.

Who in authority allowed this exemption? And where after such inspections are these people going to go?

Probably coffee or a meal somewhere to potentially spread this virus into the Hunter.

We want this stopped for goodness sake or we will be the next area to go into lockdown.

I AM very confused about AstraZeneca and its link to blood clots. I cannot understand why there is a shifting and arbitrary age limit to its suitability.

I felt somewhat relieved on hearing the news that AstraZeneca was available for all who wanted it over the age of 18.

However, then it became worrying for me to hear the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and chief medical officer Jeanette Young state that this was not recommended.

Ms Young declared in an emotional outburst that she did not want to see 18-year-olds dying from blood clots when they could easily survive the COVID-19.

If dying from AstraZeneca is a real threat, why is it the only vaccination available for the elderly? Are they expendable.

This has totally undermined my confidence in advice given by the official authorities in Australia.

WYEE is in the local government area of Lake Macquarie (where we pay our rates), we are not classed as Greater Sydney (which does include the Central Coast).

This means we are under regional restrictions, not lockdown and stay at home orders.

Yet my daughter-in-law and her two small children were refused entry by the Cardiff RSL Club because Wyee was on their list of no-entries, being classed as Central Coast.

Cardiff is also in the Lake Macquarie local government area. So according to the club, we must have been paying our rates to the wrong council for the nearly 40 years we have been here.

IN response to Bruce Graham, figures are actual and where will they get their base power from? Don't say renewables because even you would have to admit that renewables are not reliable. I do agree that it would be good if we could go totally with renewables. But what is often overlooked is the carbon footprint left due to the manufacture of renewables.

What will be done with all the solar panels which have a short lifespan if in fact there will be a lot to be replaced shortly.