HSC students frustrated with last-minute changes to mass Covid-19 vaccination system
Year 12 students and their families have voiced frustration over last-minute changes to transport arrangements and booking difficulties as a mass vaccination hub opens for students in areas at the centre of the Sydney coronavirus outbreak.
The New South Wales government is offering 24,000 first-dose vaccination appointments for year 12 students, after which time the vaccination hub at Qudos Bank Arena at Olympic Park will open up to the broader public.
The vaccination centre was fully booked on Monday, with almost 3,000 students set to receive their jab.
This comes as many regional Australians have had their vaccination appointments cancelled and vaccines doses redirected to Sydney students, in order to prioritise what the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, calls the “roadmap forward for HSC students”.
HSC students outside the eight local government areas of concern will return to face-to-face teaching on 16 August. The offer of Pfizer jabs for students in hotspot areas aims to help them sit exams safely later in the year.
Speaking to media at her 11am press conference, Berejiklian said it was a “positive day for HSC students”, but many of the students and teachers involved in the vaccination effort at Qudos Arena have not felt as confident.
Sietara Mahshar, a year 12 student from Chifley College senior campus in Mount Druitt, will have to travel an hour-and-a-half round trip for her vaccination tomorrow, without counting waiting time. She’ll miss her English and Ancient history classes, on top of the worries she has about how any potential side effects of the vaccine might affect her studies.
NSW Health originally told students there would be buses arranged to take them to Homebush, but on Friday evening students were informed they would have to arrange their own transport to the venue.
Mahshar’s father is able to drive her to Homebush, however, Sharon Kelly, an educator in the public sector, and many school principals have expressed concern that this sudden change of plans would discourage students from getting the vaccine.
As well as issues regarding transportation, many students, including Mahshar, experienced technical difficulties booking their vaccination appointments.
Effie Fotiou told Guardian Australia her husband had taken her son on Monday morning and that the centre was run efficiently with “plenty of staff including police and security.”
Yet ambiguity remains regarding procedural measures, especially regarding whether or not these final year students will have to be tested for Covid-19 as part of their vaccination.
The chief executive of Western Sydney local health district, Graeme Loy, wrote to HSC students’ parents and guardians informing them:
“Please note: In presenting to the Qudos Bank Arena, the student has consented to being vaccinated with the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine. The students will also be offered a COVID-19 PCR screening test after they are vaccinated. Students will not have to self-isolate after having this test. In the event the student does not wish to have a COVID test, the student will need to inform a NSW Health Pathology staff member.”