27. Where is the vaccine made?
In this video, Djiniyini Gondarra and Wämut (Richard Trudgen’s skin name) start working through the many questions that Yolŋu people still have about the COVID-19 vaccines. The first question is why some of the first people who got the vaccine developed blood clots? The media around this created a lot of fear and confusion. There are also many questions Yolŋu people have around the production of the vaccines. Many Yolŋu people thought it was the government who were producing them and did not know that there were private companies involved. This video talks about some of the companies involved and puts into context the small number of blood clots that the AstraZeneca vaccine created. It explains that the main vaccine now used in the Northern Territory is Pfizer. This program also talks through the origins of the Pfizer company.
28. What is in the vaccines, and will it make us sick?
In this video, Richard Trudgen and Djiniyini Gondarra discuss two major questions about the Covid-19 vaccine. One is, what is actually inside the vaccines? The other is, will the injections make you sick? Because of all the stories going around, people are confused about what is actually in the Covid-19 vaccines. There is also confusion about the 15-minute requirement to wait after the injections, and why would an injection that is supposed to help you, make some people sick? This video takes the relationships between animals and the need at certain times to protect your family and clan from outside invasion. It then translates this worldview into the relationship between disease and sickness and the body’s white blood cell protectors. Many Yolngu still believe that Covid-19 is a trick of some sort. The best way to deal with this is to have open, truthful conversations about it, treating people as intelligent adults who can hear the information and see for themselves what is happening around them.
29. Delta is coming
In this video, Richard Trudgen and Djiniyini Gondarra discuss the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. Yolngu people are seeing lots of trouble and conflict over the Covid-19 virus in New South Wales and Victoria. What is making these people sick? Is it the same Covid-19 virus? This video talks about the new Delta strain, explaining how the original Covid-19 virus has reproduced in millions of people all around the world. This has now created a stronger, more dangerous Covid-19 variant called Delta. The video works through the meaning of the Delta strain, and its mutation. New South Wales and Victoria have tried to stop the Delta variant from spreading, but they haven’t been able to. The federal and state governments of Australia are now saying that when most of their citizens have some protection from the vaccine, they will give up trying to stop the virus and “open up.” The question is then asked: what will happen to the unvaccinated people?
30. Opening up? Why are 2 injections needed?
In this video, Richard Trudgen and Djiniyini Gondarra talk about what ‘opening up’ means. Many Balanda are getting vaccinated at the moment. What will happen to people who haven’t had the injection? Will they stop the country ‘opening up’? Richard Trudgen and Djiniyini Gondarra talk about how many companies are going broke in Sydney and Melbourne, and across the country, and how the federal government has a massive debt from the Covid-19 pandemic. They need to open up the trading relationships between companies and across state borders. Otherwise, the country could go broke. The federal government, state premiers and territory ministers will be opening up probably before Christmas, keeping an eye on the number of sick people in hospitals to try and make sure they are not overloaded. There are still lots of questions that Yolngu people have about this pandemic and the need to get vaccinated.
Click here for the full Covid:19 playlist
Other education programs in Yolŋu Matha are available on the Why Warriors YouTube channel or via the Yolŋu Matha learning platform, www.djambatjmarram.com.
These COVID-19 resources are produced by Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra and Richard Trudgen.
Thank-you to © Helix Animation 2020 and © CanalDivulgacion for the animations provided. All rights reserved.
Medical images in videos taken from the book, Human Body published by © Time Life Inc. 1992.
