The Privy Council Office in a secret memo said Covid vaccine injuries and deaths “have the potential to shake public confidence” and must be carefully managed with “winning communication strategies.” A federal compensation fund to date has paid out millions on injury and death claims.

“Adverse effects following immunization news reports and the government’s response to them have the potential to shake public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccination rollout,” said the memo Testing Behaviourally-Informed Messaging In Response To Severe Adverse Events Following Immunization.

The memo released through Access To Information is dated May 2021 five months after the Department of Health licensed the first Pfizer-BioNTech pandemic vaccine. “Events related to a Covid-19 vaccine may be minor or severe,” said the memo.