Australia bars ‘world’s no. 1 anti-vaxxer’ from entry

SYDNEY: An American who describes himself as the ‘ world’s # 1 anti-vaxxer’ has been barred from entering Australia, officials said yesterday, in a further crackdown on the antiimmunisation movement after outbreaks of preventable diseases.

Kent Heckenlively had outlined plans to travel to Australia in December as part of a ‘Dangerous Science’ tour to promote his books and detail efforts to push for a five-year moratorium on childhood vaccines in the US. His proposed trip came amid efforts by Canberra to boost child vaccination rates, including a ‘no jab, no pay’ law to block parents who refuse to vaccinate their offspring from accessing some government benefits.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Heckenlively, who wrote ‘ I am the world’s # 1 anti-vaxxer’ in an online blog, would be blocked from the country.

“Kent’s not got any travel plans to Australia because we’re not going to allow him to come here,” he told Sydney commercial radio station 2GB.

“These people who are telling parents that their kids shouldn’t be vaccinated are dangerous people... it’s clear to me that it’s not in our national interest that he should come here.”

Australia’s Social Services Minister Christian Porter last year said immunisation rates had lifted since the introduction of ‘ no jab, no pay’. More than 5,700 children whose parents were receiving childcare payments and had previously registered as vaccination objectors had their children immunised, he said. Australia has vaccination rates of over 90 per cent for those aged one to five.

The anti-vaccination movement has coincided with the resurgence of measles, a preventable disease, in some European countries as well as in parts of the United States. — AFP