A nurse in Western Australia (WA) accused of allegedly pretending to administer a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to a teenager, has had all charges against her dropped.
WA Police arrested and charged Christina Hartmann Benz at her residence on Nov. 7 following accusations she had made a false record of a successful vaccination while allegedly throwing out the still-full syringe.
The 51-year-old registered nurse, who worked at a private medical centre in St James, had obtained approval to vaccinate a teenage child of a person known to her.
However, the medical centre reported suspicious activity to the police after a second medical practitioner, a doctor, who observed the process,—a standard practice in Australia—believed there was a case of fraudulent vaccination recording.
However, at a brief hearing in the Perth Magistrates Court on Dec. 7, it was revealed that all charges against Hartmann Benz had been discontinued. No reason was given for the decision.
This is not the first occurrence where fraudulent behaviour has been reported regarding COVID-19 vaccinations in Australia.
According to The Age, Australia has seen a multitude of fake digital vaccination certificates. Some patients in Victoria have even reportedly offered bribes of up to $1,500 to medical practitioners to falsely record the vaccine had been delivered.
Within the state, WA Premier Mark McGowan has implemented one of Australia’s most ambitious vaccination mandates which currently requires more than 75 percent of the state’s workforce—or over a million residents—to get vaccinated by January’s end.
WA Health Minister Roger Cook highlighted the vaccination requirements served to protect West Australians from COVID-19, particularly amid the more contagious Delta strain.
“Unvaccinated workers in settings in where exposure is likely can cause tremendous harm. They are a risk to themselves, their colleagues and the community,” Cook previously said.
“The danger from Delta is very real. We simply cannot afford the hesitant or complacent infecting those workers who have already been vaccinated. We don’t want people getting COVID and we especially don’t want anyone experiencing the brutal lingering effect of long COVID.”
But the vaccine mandates have been met with resistance following a multitude of protests against the directives, with the state overall primed to cop billions of dollars in losses as an estimated 39,000 workers face termination after declining the vaccine.
Currently, the travel to and from the state is under tight restrictions and will remain so until 90 percent of West Australians aged 12 and over receive both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
WA has put pressure on school children to get vaccinated in order to reach this target, opening up vaccination clinics within certain schools and bussing students to state-run vaccination clinics.
However, the state remains relatively more hesitant in its vaccine uptake, remaining the least vaccinated jurisdiction in Australia at 77.8 percent of 12-and-overs fully vaccinated.
This comes as international consensus on vaccination mandates remains unclear.
Currently, Ireland—one of the most vaccinated countries in the world at 93 percent—has seen new restrictions following breakthroughs in COVID-19 cases.
On the other hand, Florida in the United States—which has scrapped vaccination and mask mandates—is currently tied as the state with the lowest daily COVID-19 cases per capita.
McGowan has remained steadfast in his decision to retain the health orders.
“The mandates will stay in place,” McGowan told ABC radio, reported news.com.au.
“I can’t say what a future premier might do, but they’ll be in place for a very long time while I’m the premier.”
“This will be a situation that exists for a long period of time, so people need to go and get vaccinated.”
