Young exploit booking glitches to jump Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine queue

Health authorities are refusing to admit there is a surge of young people who have received the Pfizer vaccine despite not being eligible for it.

A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Picture: AFP

Large numbers of young people are using glitches in the booking system to get the Pfizer vaccine despite not being eligible, sparking concern health officials are failing to ensure priority for vulnerable people.

A NSW government link has been widely circulating among Sydney residents allowing young people to book in and receive the Pfizer jab even though the protein-based vaccine has only been rolled out to people 40 and over.

The link – seen by The Australian – requests applications to create an account, providing their name, personal details, address and Medicare number. Young applicants can book into the 16-49 age range without claiming to be in a priority group such as those with an underlying medical condition or living with a frontline health worker. Some are fronting up to get the vaccine just three weeks after booking.

The Australian understands a number of applicants have successfully booked and received the Pfizer jab at several local health district clinics including St Vincent’s, Randwick Campus CoVax Clinic and Liverpool.

The revelation follows news that over 160 Year 12 students at St Joseph’s College on Sydney’s north shore received the Pfizer vaccine in breach of the rules.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said on Wednesday the bungle was the only example officials were aware of involving students and insisted the vaccine rollout must prioritise vulnerable groups.

“Clearly, there was an error and I can understand the concern and sympathise with the anger in the community … because as we know, and I’ve said repeatedly, the vaccine needs to be administered to those most at risk and that’s the elderly … aged-care workers and healthcare workers,” she said.

A young person who has received his first jab using the anonymous link, but asked not to be named, said he booked in early June and received his first shot last Monday at the Liverpool Local Health District. He was sent the link by his girlfriend after she had received it in a work WhatsApp group, and has since shared the link with more than 100 friends.

“On the link I had I didn’t have to lie about anything,” he said. “I was pretty surprised at how easy it was, considering all you hear in the media is that we’re not eligible to get it yet. When I went to get it on Monday they asked me all the normal questions, like was I feeling sick, and my medical history, but there was nothing about how did I register or was I eligible.”

The anonymous local health district link is not the only way some young people are jumping the queue for the Pfizer jab.

Online bookings for the Sydney Olympic Park mass vaccination hub require eligible candidates to outline which priority group they fall into. In a Facebook post seen by The Australian, young people not yet eligible are lying about being in priority groups.

As Sydney battles an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, Deakin University epidemiologist Catherine Bennett said NSW Health needed to crack down to ensure only eligible people were getting the vaccine.

“It would be terrible if workers in aged care were all set up so they could go and get their vaccine and then suddenly we ran out of supply because we’ve given it to people not eligible,” she said.