Amid revelations on Tuesday the year 12 students at St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill received their first dose of the Pfizer jab back in May, health officials admitted it happened as an “error”.The school asked Sydney Local Health District in May about the possibility of vaccinations for the students given many of them were boarders from remote, regional and Indigenous communities.The health district’s chief executive Teresa Anderson said it was then agreed that Aboriginal students would be vaccinated through the state system at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital’s vaccination hub.All Aboriginal people aged 16 to 49 years of age are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination because they have a higher risk of developing a severe disease from the virus.“Through an error, the wider group of boarders in year 12, a total of 163 students, were also vaccinated,” Ms Anderson said in a statement released on Tuesday night.“Sydney Local Health District apologises for the error.”It has sparked outrage in the community, with teachers pushing to be eligible as part of the nation’s rollout slamming the decision. NSW Teachers Federation senior vice-president Amber Flohm called it “absolutely obscene”. “It highlights the inequality that exists across our society,” she told the ABC. “That sort of behaviour is not going to get us through the pandemic.”With the highly contagious Delta variant plunging five capital cities into lockdown in late June and early July, teachers’ unions across the country renewed their push to have staff protected against the virus. Just last week the Independent Education Union’s (IEU) Queensland and Northern Territory branch reignited calls for vaccine priority and also called on employers to provide up to two days’ paid leave for teachers who were unable to get vaccinations outside work hours.In a statement seen by NCA NewsWire, St Joseph’s school principal Ross Tarlinton said NSW Health approved the administration of the vaccines through Sydney Local Health District.“The college proceeded to make arrangements for the administration of the approved vaccine at a centre determined by NSW Health,” it said.“Acknowledging that the college does not determine vaccination priority, it welcomed the opportunity to offer the vaccine for students given the approvals provided and for the reasons listed above.“The college will continue to encourage and support members of its community to receive the appropriate vaccine as the opportunity arises.”Only people aged between 40 and 60 were officially eligible to receive the Pfizer shot in NSW as well as priority groups of other ages, such as people working in health or quarantine front lines, those with disabilities and household contacts and Indigenous people.Four per cent of St Joseph’s students are Indigenous.Australians aged under 40 can expect to become eligible for a Pfizer or Moderna shot about “September or October”, according to the head of the COVID-19 vaccine taskforce.Lieutenant General John Frewen said on Tuesday younger Australians could also be given a choice as to which mRNA jab they received once enough doses arrived and access was expanded.NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge took aim at the government over the decision.“160 private school students being vaccinated before there‘s even A PLAN to vaccinate public school teachers is the most NSW Government thing I’ve ever heard,” he wrote on Twitter.Others on social media called for the principal to apologise.
Powered by WPeMatico
