NSW Health roll out COVID-19 vaccination online booking tool for anyone over 16 years
NSW Health has rolled out an online portal to “streamline” the Pfizer vaccination booking process at certain mass vaccine hubs for anyone over the age of 16. But there’s a catch.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NSW Health officials have quietly launched a pilot COVID-19 Pfizer online booking website for some of its mass vaccine hubs — with bookings available to anyone over the age of 16.
Despite the Department of Health’s federal Vaccine Eligibility Checker continuing to reject mass Pfizer vaccination applications for NSW residents under 39 years, the NSW Health portal is accepting bookings from October 25 onwards.
The NSW Health Vaccination Portal allows residents aged 16 and over to book upcoming vaccinations from locations including the newly established Belmont hub in Lake Macquarie, as well as the Darlinghurst, Westmead and Blacktown sites from October.
Hubs in Macquarie Fields, Nowra, Prairiewood and Wollongong are expected to open available timeslots shortly.
A NSW Government source said the website was designed in an effort to “streamline and clear up a clunky vaccine application process”.
“There are a lot of ways, some of them quite confusing, used to apply for bookings for the vaccine,” the source said. “This pilot program is an effort to provide residents who do want to access NSW Health vaccine hubs to do in a quick and easy way.”
The Vaccination Portal is expected to increase the number of timeslots available as “more Pfizer dosages come online in the coming weeks”.
However, the lack of a public rollout by the NSW Government raised concerns for dozens of users who stumbled across the site — which requires Medicare information and a password — that it was a hoax.
It comes as many who have been trying to book a vaccine through the widely publicised Eligibility Checker app have been complaining about the process.
Northern beaches councillor Vincent de Luca said he had written a letter to Manly MP and Secretary of Health James Griffin, that it was “disgraceful the system is so inoperable”.
He said even the telephone operator on the NSW Health Vaccination Centre helpline 1800 571 155 number said it was hard to navigate.
“Worse, there is no proactive record that you want an appointment – it just texts and emails you saying look later,” he said. “There should be an automatic system that emails or texts you when available appointments come up?
“I can only imagine the difficulties the elderly, non-IT literate or disabled encounter. This system certainly discourages people trying to make an appointment for the vaccine.”
Northern Sydney Local Health District suggested people under 60 who want the AstraZeneca to call Healthdirect on 1800 571 155, rather than go through the app.
The quiet rollout of the new portal comes just days after two new vaccination centres opened in the Sydney CBD and Newcastle.
Join the conversation
Bollards, CCTV camera to be rolled out in Sydney’s east
Bollards and additional CCTV cameras are set to be rolled out in Jewish communities in Sydney’s east, as three councils band together in order to catch anti-Semitic vandals in the act.
Read more
‘Abused, spat on’: CEO reveals threats after council rate hike vote
The boss of Northern Beaches Council has spoken to police, saying staffers have been subjected to widespread abuse after councillors voted to pursue a 39.6 per cent rate rise.
Read more