The Australian Government has offered guidance to vaccination providers on handling consent refusal by people presenting for COVID-19 vaccination.
Vaccine providers have reported some people have requested vaccination but have refused to provide informed consent. One example is where a person required vaccination for employment.
In some instances, people became aggressive, abusive, offered bribes to falsify documentation, changed words on consent forms, or tried to engage in political debate.
What is informed consent?
Informed consent is an individual’s voluntary decision to agree to a healthcare treatment, procedure or intervention, such as a COVID-19 vaccination. It is made after they have received information about the intervention, including the potential risks and benefits. Consent can be verbal or written.
Your responsibility
As a health professional, you:
- must get informed consent from a patient before vaccinating them
- have a duty of care to ensure patients are making educated and informed decisions about vaccination.
It is not your role as a health professional to debate topics or change a patient’s opinion. Patients may be hesitant for a range of reasons such as their beliefs about vaccination, a bad experience with previous vaccination, needle phobia or misinformation.
If a patient has not provided informed consent, you should not vaccinate them, even if they are mandated to receive a COVID-19 vaccination to perform particular roles or enter certain settings.
If a patient is aggressive or you feel threatened, you can request the patient leave the clinic. If you’re not comfortable requesting a patient leave, you should remove yourself from the situation and escalate to a supervisor if possible.
Resources
- The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has released information for providers on COVID-19 vaccination consent.
- healthdirect has published information about informed consent.
- The Australian Immunisation Handbook has information about preparing for vaccination, including obtaining valid consent.
- Consent form for COVID-19 vaccination.