Year 12s opting out of Pfizer offer in protest

The Berejiklian government’s vaccination push for Year 12 students is in danger of being derailed by high levels of vaccination hesitancy among the cohort.

Survey organisers Year 12 students Luca Kent and Henley Warner at Greystanes High School in Sydney’s west. Picture: Jane Dempster

The Berejiklian government’s vaccination push for Year 12 students is in danger of being derailed by high levels of vaccination hesitancy among the cohort, coupled with a large number of students opting against the jab in protest against the HSC ­examinations.

The indications of significant hesitancy by students come as new Doherty Institute modelling released on Tuesday found vaccination of young people was a key component needed to move away from lockdowns, with young ­people being the cohort most likely to transmit the virus.

Nearly 20,000 Year 12 students from Sydney’s eight hardest hit areas are scheduled to be vaccinated with Pfizer from Monday as the NSW government pushes to return them to face-to-face learning in time for their exams.

An informal survey conducted among Year 12 students suggests many of those eligible may choose not to have the jab.

A survey of 4507 students within a private Year 12 Facebook group with more than 36,000 members found 40 per cent of respondents would not take up the offer for the Pfizer vaccine.

By comparison, an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey released earlier this month found 73 per cent of Australians would get a Covid-19 vaccine when it was available and recommended for them; just 11 per cent said they would not get one.

Vaccine hesitant responses littered several separate posts in the group, with students raising questions over its efficacy and safety.

“There is no way I’m getting that vaccine. It’s not safe, they need to do more research before they want to give it to people,” one student wrote.

Another one said: “I’m not getting that vaccine and that’s final. If it stops me from getting the same education as everyone else, the government is dumb.”

The survey’s organisers, Greystanes High School students Henley Warner, 17, and Luca Kent, 18, hope to present the results to the Minister of Education, Sarah Mitchell. Henley said she was surprised by the high levels of students opting out of the vaccine, and more needed to be done to target education about the vaccine to school children.

NSW Year 12 students’ final year at school has been riddled with chaos, with the city lockdown forcing them to learn from home for six weeks, and many finding it difficult to concentrate.

On Wednesday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian signalled that Year 12 HSC students might not return to classrooms on August 16, as previously announced.

With the return to school hinging on higher vaccination rates, some students are adopting an anti-vaccination stance to persuade the government to cancel the HSC altogether.

Northwest Sydney student Keira Garland, 18, of Turramurra High School, who has been part of a campaign to cancel the exams, said the weeks of disrupted learning would entrench disparities in the results.

NSW Secondary Principals Association president Craig Peter­son said mixed messaging about which vaccine should be taken by which age group had left students confused. He called for a more co-ordinated approach to help them overcome fears.