WITH summer heat looming, the CFA have restored full access for all their members serving as volunteers across the state by removing the mandates to COVID-19 vaccines.

In an email sent out earlier this week by chief executive, Natalie MacDonald, and chief officer, Jason Heffernan, the CFA “has reviewed its position” in part due to the ending of the pandemic order to “support the health and wellbeing of our members and the communities”.

“CFA has made the decision to move to community settings in relation to COVID-19 vaccination for our volunteer members effective Monday 12, December,” the email said.

“This means that vaccination will no longer be mandatory but is strongly recommended.”

The email said Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) was also consulted as part of the process.

“As CFA is a community-based fire and emergency service, we see this as a sensible change,” the email said.

“We continue to strongly recommend all volunteers to be up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations.”

Similarly, the Victorian State Emergency Service (VICSES) also lifted its mandates with a statement that said a “small number of VICSES volunteers currently on leave due to their vaccination status can commence their return to service”.

One CFA member who did not wish to be named, said the reversal was “common sense” and “it had been asked for for some time” with a significant collection of local brigades sending a letter to the chief officer recently by unanimous decision.

“I think everyone’s pleased - everyone was sick of it and it’s time it was changed,” they said.

The member said they thought the mandates were “discrimination”, with people “almost persecuted or ostracised for it” and had generated division among communities.

“There’s some ill feeling about it from those who were forced out,” they said.

“I rang one of my good mates and said, ‘hey, you’re back’ and he said, ‘I don’t know if I really want to go back after being treated like a leper’.

“He has stayed involved to help out in emergencies and been criticised for it.

“On one occasion there was fires everywhere from lightning strikes. So that wasn’t seen well even when he did what any normal person would do and grab the equipment.

“He loved the fire brigade.”

For another CFA member, they felt the email was glossing over the seriousness of medical coercion.

“It isn’t insignificant for agencies … authorities and government to overlook international-level ethical principles that took UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization) two years to develop,” they said.

“Don’t take my word for it - look up the Universal Declaration on Bioethics (and Human Rights 2005) yourself.

“Article 3 says the individual has (bioethical) rights over society (at large). Is that what happened? We kept on hearing how you have to ‘do it for others’. That’s not how it’s supposed to work - when you get medical treatment, it’s firstly meant for you.

“In Article 6 … it says informed consent (should be) able to be withdrawn without disadvantage. Did you hear that? ‘Without disadvantage’.

“All that (rubbish) ScoMo said about people not being forced. Is that what some volunteers experienced? Is that what other people experienced with their jobs?

“That UN document isn’t some random conspiracy website rambling, and all this says nothing about what the governments in Australia did in terms of violating their own laws on discrimination, medical privacy and the constitution.

“What were they doing? They’ve had medical plans for even worse emergency situations in place for years - why did they just ignore that?”

The volunteer claimed the mandates were an example of executive overreach that could not be justified.

“Bureaucrats talk about how they were trying to protect us,” they said.

“But … who would care about (the) vaccine status of a volunteer when their house is about to be burned in a bushfire?

“It would be a disgrace to do this even if it didn’t potentially put communities at risk from other emergencies, but to deny people the opportunity to help save property (and) lives for something that was just an exercise in government panic and power is just (wrong).

“Some people need to hang their heads in shame. It’s really great that the CFA has finally changed this, but the people who did this in the first place need to be held to account. It should never have happened.”

However, the CFA said in its email it was aware of differing views in the community on the mandates and called for calm.

“We know that members will have different views and opinions on COVID-19 vaccination,” the statement said.

“It will be important for us all to continue to keep in mind CFA’s mission and our role in meeting that mission in a way that upholds our core value of respect, which includes respecting differing views and decisions.”