Channel 7 said last week that personnel on Home and Away would not be able to return to work until they have been double-vaccinated against Covid-19.
Abbie Chatfield, a vaccination advocate and influencer, had a caustic retort to the soap’s anti-vaxxer actor Sam Frost this week.
Abbie merely commented ‘Oop’ on her Instagram Stories after discovering that the reality TV star-turned-actress, 32, would lose her job owing to her hardline stance.
The brief but venomous remark appeared beneath a TV Week headline implying that the mandate was implemented in reaction to Sam’s infamous video declaring that she would not be taking the vaccine.
Abbie, 26, is a passionate vaccination supporter who has previously chastised Sam for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Seven West Media’s Director of Production, Andrew Backwell, wrote an email to workers advising them that the network “would only engage fully vaccinated presenters, actors, and crew.”
To continue working at Seven Productions, which produces Home and Away, employees will need to be double-vaccinated starting January 10.
‘To ensure the safest possible work environment for cast, crew, and presenters, Seven Productions has made the decision to only engage people who are completely vaccinated against Covid-19,’ a spokeswoman for the network told the Herald Sun on Friday.
‘Vaccination is strongly recommended by Seven to safeguard our employees, their coworkers, and their families.’
The rule is likely to affect Sam, 32, who previously revealed she was not vaccinated, however the network would not comment on specific individuals.
‘We will not comment or speculate on the vaccination status of people,’ a Seven spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
The former Bachelorette star’s Instagram account was removed on October 9, only days after she revealed in a tearful video that she was unvaccinated and that her mental health had suffered as a consequence of others’ ‘judging’ her.
Since 2017, the actress, who has played nurse Jasmine Delaney on Home and Away, has advocated for a more accepting attitude among unvaccinated Australians.
‘I was extremely worried about shooting a video or even speaking up about this type of issue,’ she said in the video, ‘but I feel like the world is coming to a place now where there’s a lot of division.’
