Regional anger at vaccine redistribution for HSC kids

The plan to get the HSC on track has come under fire from regional NSW who have been asked to give up their vaccine appointments.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rebuked premier Gladys Berejiklian for redirecting vaccine doses from the state’s Central Coast to get Sydney HSC students jabbed, exposing a rift between the state and federal governments.

The Central Coast is one region that is losing Pfizer doses so Year 12 students from west and southwestern Sydney can get vaccinated. It comes despite the Central Coast population experiencing the same lockdown as Greater Sydney.

“The Federal Government didn’t support the initiative to redirect doses away from the Central Coast to Greater Sydney,” Mr Morrison said.

People in regional NSW have taken to social media to declare their anger at having their vaccination appointment cancelled because their dose of Pfizer has been redistributed to HSC students in Sydney.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage.

The outcry comes after more than 3500 people have signed a petition lodged on the NSW Parliament website calling on Ms Berejiklian to reverse the move which they say is unfair and leaves the regions vulnerable to Covid.

Rural people were sent emails and texts this week telling them their vaccination appointment made months ago had been cancelled.

“Reason for cancellation include: Pfizer vaccines are being redirected from NSW Health clinics across the State to assist in vaccinating Year 12 students so they can return to school ahead of their HSC,” one email sent on Sunday said.

But those messages have left those in the regions angry.

“I am absolutely gutted that today you find out they have been cancelled and redirected to Sydney … I have no words. I see you, I hear you, and I too am so angry,” one woman said on social media.

“Are we not worth protecting as front line workers in regional areas with health issues too?”

NSW Health have said healthcare workers’ vaccines had not been diverted.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro called on regional people to step up and help their city counterparts. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams Pool/Getty Images

NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro said diverting vaccine doses from country areas was about helping city folk in their time of need — especially when they had been generous and volunteered their help for people in the region during the drought and bushfires.

“The diversion of some Pfizer vaccines earmarked for the regions is short term and we will continue to see more and more vaccine become available over the next few weeks, with regional NSW being first to see those top ups,” he said.

“If we weren’t to do this, it would be like in the middle of the black summer bushfires, when the South Coast was burning, the Hornsby RFS decided not to help.”

But Shooters and Fishers MP Mark Banasiak said that logic did not wash with him or the majority of rural voters.

“Nobody expected that support for natural disaster emergencies would come with terms and conditions attached to them,” he said.

Mark Banasiak from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.

A NSW Health spokesman said people in regional NSW who have had a first Pfizer dose will receive their second dose.

“Any appointments which have been inadvertently cancelled as part of the redirection process are being rebooked,” he said.