Fury at decision to offer some year 12 students Pfizer vaccines

The decision to redirect Pfizer doses from rural NSW areas to some Sydney year 12 students has prompted major backlash from the community.

A controversial decision to redirect Pfizer doses from rural NSW areas to Sydney year 12 students has not gone down well, with the call generating immense backlash from furious members of the community.

On Wednesday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a four-week extension of the Greater Sydney lockdown along with introducing harder restrictions for the Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River local government areas.

But the change that has caused the most backlash is the decision to offer Pfizer doses to year 12 students across eight Sydney LGAs of concern.

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Year 12 students in eight Sydney LGAs will be given access to the Pfizer vaccine.

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Due to the limited vaccine supply, in order to do this doses of the vaccine need to be redirected from rural areas, meaning residents outside of Greater Sydney may see a delay in getting their shot.

The topic of year 12 students receiving Pfizer is already a sensitive one after about 160 students at the prestigious St Joseph’s College were given the Covid-19 Pfizer jab in “error”.

Social media was flooded with comments in the wake of the announcement yesterday, with many questioning why some year 12 Sydney students were being prioritised over those in regional and rural areas.

Why are year 12 city kids being prioritized with Pfizer? I don’t get it. So many adults who pay tax and front line need it. I’m very confused. Is this another Joeys Private School special? #fitchick

— Kelli Gray (@kellilgray) July 28, 2021

Sorry but year 12 students taking Pfizer doses away from regional NSW?????

My partner works in a hospital and can’t even get his Pfizer til Sept.

What a joke. #lockdownextension#Pfizer#nswlockdown

— 💗 Jodes 💗 (@jodes888) July 28, 2021

#Pfizer How typical of #liberal system of distribution to ‘more deserving’ such as #privateschool boys, or year 12 students & ‘less deserving’ like people living in regional #NSW, #careworkers & others, more disposable in the ranking system #COVID19nsw#nswpol#nswhealth#auspolhttps://t.co/SAfECSnuKU

— coupdegraz7✳️ (@coupdegraz7) July 28, 2021

Year 12 in these arbitrary LGA areas are being Pfizer vaccinated ahead of other essential workers. That doesn’t quite make sense. What also does not make sense is an important year - FOR ALL YEAR 12 students right across Australia.

A further example of Sydneycentrcity.

— Goody HOW (@Mayella09476043) July 28, 2021

Completely unacceptable #Pfizer being redirected to yr 12 student. Furious.

— Benjamin Bourke (@bourkeb) July 28, 2021

As year 12 students across Greater Sydney will be allowed to attend face-to-face learning, officials believe offering vaccine doses to senior students in high-risk areas will make the move safer.

The offer applies to students in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Blacktown and Cumberland, Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River LGAs.

Ms Berejiklian said students from those areas would be only be allowed to return to the classroom if they had taken up the vaccine offer.

She said the state had not been given extra doses from any other state nor the federal government, so some jabs allocated to regional parts of NSW would be moved to Sydney.

The NSW Teachers Federation also seemed less than impressed with the plan, with president Angelo Gavrielatos saying the decision did not “fill teachers with confidence” and he questioned whether it was consistent with health advice.

“Noting the advice that worksites and human interaction are the major contributors to transmission of the virus, we are dumbfounded by today’s announcement,” he said.

“Particularly as some of our schools with large year 12 groups will have gatherings of up to 600 people on site.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian takes questions during a Covid-19 update. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams Pool/Getty Images

When explaining her reasoning behind the decision, Ms Berejiklian said she didn’t want students going to face-to-face learning and then contracting the virus and passing it on to their families.

“I don’t think anybody would begrudge us for doing anything we can to get year 12 students safely back to schools.

“(Chief health officer) Dr (Kerry) Chant’s advice to us was if you want year 12’s face-to-face in those areas, they must get vaccinated and that’s what we are working hard to provide in the next few weeks.”

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the move was about supporting year 12 students as much as it was about protecting regional and rural NSW.

“The greatest threat to rural and regional NSW is a potential breach out of Sydney,” he said.

“Getting rates of vaccination in those eight LGAs is going to be important in protecting regional and rural NSW.”

The NSW government is also considering rapid antigen testing for when year 12 students resume in-person studies.