SA COVID-19 vaccination case thrown out - again

Varnhagen (third from right) with her then co-litigants in the case in April

The Court of Appeal has rejected the challenge to SA's vaccine mandates brought by former Adelaide Crows player Deni Varnhagen.

The only avenue for further legal challenge is for leave to be granted by the High Court of Australia, but already Varnhagen and her co-litigant face a potentially hefty legal bill in December.

In a unanimous judgment on Tuesday, the South Australian Court of Appeal rejected the arguments seeking to overturn an earlier decision from a Supreme Court judge.

The lead litigant and nurse, Varnhagen took her case to the SA Supreme Court last year after a declaration under the state's Emergency Management Act required her to be vaccinated to work in the health system.

The Crows also placed her on their inactive list due to her decision not to be 'fully' vaccinated against COVID-19. At the time the AFL required all players to be fully vaccinated but that requirement was dropped in July.

Justice Judy Hughes's September judgment was that SA's emergency declaration in relation to the COVID-19 was removed earlier this year, making Varnhagen's case became hypothetical - so she dismissed the action.

Justice Hughes also ruled against Varnhagen on key questions of law related to the state parliament's transfer of the vaccine requirements for health workers into public health laws.

The appeal court agreed on Tuesday with Justice Hughes' reasoning that there was no defect in what the parliament had approved.

Fellow nurse Courtney Millington remained the only co-litigant in the case, with five other people - another nurse, a childcare worker, a teacher and two police officers - withdrawing from the action.

During the Supreme Court hearings, Varnhagen argued that she was not able to make an informed decision regarding the effectiveness or the safety of any of the three COVID-19 vaccines available:

"I believe that, because of the directions, I am being left with no choice as to whether I receive a COVID-19 vaccine."

"I believe that I am being coerced into doing so in order to keep my employment."

The intensive care nurse told the court that she had not worked at Adelaide's Flinders Medical Centre since November last year and had taken a job as a labourer to meet her expenses.

Ms Millington received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine but decided not to have a second after suffering an adverse reaction.

She sought an exemption on medical grounds, but it was refused.

The case will return to court in December for the consideration of whether Varnhagen should pay the state's legal costs, estimated to run in excess of $50,000.