Exclusive Sydney school St Joseph’s jumped Covid-19 jab queue

More than 160 students at an elite private boys’ school in Sydney were given the sought-after Pfizer vaccine after the school asked ­health officials to inoculate a ­cohort of vulnerable students.

St Joseph's College on Sydney’s north shore. Picture: AAP

More than 160 students at an elite private boys’ school in Sydney were given the sought-after Pfizer vaccine after the school asked ­health officials to inoculate a ­cohort of vulnerable students.

NSW Health admitted on Tuesday it had made an mistake, following revelations that 163 ­students at St Joseph’s College in Hunter’s Hill received their first dose of the vaccine in May, angering the NSW Teachers Federation, which said teachers should be given priority access.

The school said it had sought the vaccines because a large number of student boarders were from rural, remote and Indigenous communities and may have been considered vulnerable to the virus. They are due to receive their second dose of the vaccine once the school term resumes.

The Pfizer vaccine is available only to Australians aged between 40 and 60 years old, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are eligible to receive it, provided they are aged over 16.

NSW reported 18 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, with 11 cases having contracted the virus while already in isolation. A further five cases had been in isolation for part of their infectious period, while two others had been active in the community throughout.

At a crisis cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the NSW government decided to extend Sydney’s lockdown for a third week until midnight on Friday July 16.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to announce the decision on Wednesday morning.

Schools in Greater Sydney will resume after the holidays with online learning from Tuesday for four days, with a planned return to the classroom on Monday July 19. Face-to-face classes resume in regional NSW from Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Berejiklian government faced harsh criticism over the decision allowing St Joseph’s College students to obtain the Pfizer vaccine. Teresa Anderson, chief executive of Sydney Local Health District, said it was agreed that Indigenous students boarding at the school would be given the Pfizer vaccine.

“Through an error, the wider group of boarders in year 12, a total of 163 students, were also vaccinated,” Dr Anderson said.

“Sydney Local Health District apologises for this error.”

St Joseph’s College principal Ross Tarlinton said the approval and administration of the vaccine was managed by NSW Health through the Sydney Local Health District.

“The college proceeded to make arrangements for the administration of the approved vaccine at a centre determined by NSW Health,” Mr Tarlinton said.

“Acknowledging that the college does not determine vaccination priority, it welcomed the opportunity to offer the vaccine for students given the approvals provided.”

The NSW Teachers Federation slammed the decision, saying teachers and other edu­cational staff had been requesting priority for months due to the higher likelihood of adverse health consequences.

“We are speechless,” federation president Angelos Gavriolatos said. “We are told that the pandemic is the great equaliser but clearly it is not. While we are trying to convince government authorities to prioritise vaccines, we see reports of privilege being extended to the privileged.”

Mr Gavriolatos said the most recent outbreak of Covid-19 had seen 37 young people aged between 10 and 19 contract the virus, with a further 25 cases reported in children under the age of 10.

“We are looking at a situation where aged care workers have yet to be vaccinated, a host of frontline workers have yet to be vaccinated. Teachers and education workers are still seeking prioritisation. And now we read this – it has left us speechless,” he said.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and Health Minister Brad Hazzard both declined to comment.