The AstraZeneca vaccine is now available to young people – so why is it impossible to access?

I’m ready to play my part in Australia’s Covid recovery – but I can’t find anyone willing to give me the vaccine, writes Emily Burley.

Fourteen. That’s the number of GPs I’ve called so far in my hunt for the Covid vaccine.

Eleven practices told me they’re only giving the jab to the over 60s. Two made my appointment only to call me back and cancel. One wasn’t familiar with the eligibility changes.

AstraZeneca is now available to people aged under 40. Picture: Hector Vivas.

Since Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on June 28 the age cap on AstraZeneca was being removed, meaning anyone under the age of 40 could request the vaccine, I’ve been trying and failing to secure an appointment for my first dose.

A new mass vaccination hub set to open in Lake Macquarie on Monday promises to speed up the rollout for the Hunter and Central Coast by administering 20,000 doses per week, but logging on as bookings opened, I was again left feeling defeated. The hub will, for the time being, only be administering the Pfizer jab to those aged 40 to 60.

People queue for the vaccine at the hub at Sydney Olympic Park. Picture: Gaye Gerard.

Many of my friends and colleagues have been successful in getting their first AstraZeneca shot. Photos of them beaming, a Band-Aid on their arm and vaccine card in their hand, flooded my social media feeds in the week after that June 28 announcement.

Perhaps the difference is many of them are in Sydney – two hours south on the M1. Cases there have surged in the past fortnight so the regional divide tastes a little less bitter, but as the Delta variant creeps into the regions, Newcastle is feeling increasingly less safe.

A former Bunnings Warehouse in Lake Macquarie will open as a vaccination hub on Monday. Picture: Supplied.

I don’t mind waiting for the vaccine. I really don’t. I’m young and healthy, and vaccines have and should be prioritised for those who need them most.

But when the state’s Chief Health Officer confirms young and previously healthy people are in intensive care with Covid, when Dr Kerry Chant again tells those of us under 40 to talk to our GPs about getting the AstraZeneca, when we’re confronted with a television ad showing a young person hospitalised with the virus struggling to breathe – it all feels like a slap in the face.

Reporter Emily Burley. Picture: Supplied.

AstraZeneca is being administered by GPs. Picture: Hector Vivas.

The most frustrating part in my hunt for the vaccine has been the mixed messaging. The PM says I can get it. The CHO says I should look into it. The Australian Medical Association has spoken of surplus AstraZeneca doses. But the suggestion “anyone” can get it is proving to be anything but true.

I don’t want the vaccine for myself as much as I want it for my elderly grandparents, my essential worker parents, my immunocompromised friends.

I know my role in Australia’s Covid recovery is small, but it’s important – and I’m ready and willing, if someone will give me the vaccine.