NSW Health lashed as construction workers get priority for Covid vaccines on Super Sunday

Thousands of frontline workers are furious over the decision by NSW Health to hold a ‘tradies Sunday’, where they get priority jabs ahead of others.

Thousands of frontline workers are furious over the decision by health authorities to prioritise vaccinations for construction workers.

The NSW government is holding “tradies Sunday” st Sydney Olympic Park, offering the Pfizer vaccine to tradies and construction workers aged between 16 and 19, and AstraZeneca to those over 40 who live in the hot spot LGAs.

Construction workers from the eight LGAs at the epicentre of Delta infections are only allowed to return to work if they have had two vaccines, or one dose at least three weeks ago.

Construction workers who have had one dose within the past three weeks can return to work provided they have had a negative Covid test in the previous 72 hours.

Tens of thousands of construction workers in NSW returned back to the building sites on Wednesday after restrictions eased. NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

The health orders cap the number of workers on a site in Greater Sydney at 50 per cent of the maximum number at the peak of construction.

But the decision to allow around 8000 construction workers access to the jab on Sunday, sparked a quick backlash among essential workers in other industries including teachers, nurses and aged care workers.

“What about Healthcare professionals still waiting for Pfizer and been working as authorised workers all through this lockdown? Is there going to be a “Healthcare Sunday” priority Pfizer vaccination?,” Anita Collins wrote.

Kate JonesCant added: “Is there any indication as to when ‘essential’ workers in industries other than health and are under 40 can get vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna?.”

“People who work in post offices and supermarkets are more important than construction right now. It’s incredibly unfair to expect them to work without access to safe vaccines when their GP advises they shouldn’t get AstraZeneca based on their medical history.”

The vaccination hub in Sydney Olympic Park where around 8000 tradies are expected on Sunday Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

But even people wanting to book the vaccine were left frustrated over the online system which left many missing out on a spot.

“Doesn’t work when you try to book in and you can’t book your first appointment without booking a second and it says no second appointment is available,” Courtney Anne wrote.

“Just tried to book my son who is an apprentice and it only gave me the first Pfizer vaccine and there were no second vaccines for any dates,” Michelle Roberts added. “So (it) would not let me book.”

And it wasn’t the only problem NSW Health faced. Within hours of announcing the vaccine, the appointments for the Pfizer vaccine were booked out.

Sydney Olympic Park vaccine hub Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

However, Health encouraged those over the age of 18 that there were AstraZeneca vaccines available.

That’s despite an extremely rare blood clotting disorder, more common in younger people, being linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine with the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI) advising earlier this year that Pfizer was the “preferred” vaccine for under 60s.

Although due to the ongoing threat of the Delta strain in NSW, ATAGI changed that advice on July 24, urging anyone over the age of 18 to “strongly consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine, including the AstraZeneca vaccine, based on the increasing risk of Covid and ongoing constraints of Pfizer supplies”.

But that didn’t stop hundreds of people from being left confused by the constantly changing vaccine advice.

“This info would have been useful on Sunday when the initial announcement was made,” Kelly Watson wrote. “My employees have all frantically tried to get a vaccination this week to get back to work ASAP and since they are all under 36 they have all had to have AZ through their GP which is the opposite of what they wanted.”