
It's been a heavy week in Australian COVID news; extended lockdowns, vaccine confusion, sports stars blatantly breaking the rules and now private school students getting access to vaccinations before a number of frontline workers.
This was never going to go down well in a country that's already currently scraping the bottom of the morale barrel.
The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday revealed that 163 Year 12 students at Sydney's prestigious St Joseph's College have managed to get their hands on a Pzifer vaccination, despite that program only being rolled out to people over 40.
First, a distraction: Characters who would own the pandemic. Post continues after video.
The HSC students at the prestigious independent high school were bussed to a vaccination centre at the end of last term for their first shot, and are due to have their second shot when school resumes.
The principal, Ross Tarlinton, approached the Sydney Local Health District in May to ask if the students could be vaccinated, "given that we have a large number of boys who live in a residential community, which includes boys from rural, remote and indigenous communities."
NSW Health has now confirmed that they intended for only First Nations students to get access to the jab. All Indigenous people between 16 and 19 are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine due to higher risks of contracting the virus and severity of symptoms.
They did not intend for the rest of the boarding cohort to also get access to the in-demand vaccine. And while we don't know how many in that group of boys fits the eligibility category, we do know it certainly isn't 163.
You see, this is where things get tricky. There's outrage everywhere at this story. Fury even.
Senior vice-president of the NSW Teacher's Federation, Amber Flohm told the ABC "It's obscene. Absolutely obscene. It highlights the inequality that exists across our society."
NSW Teachers Federation president @AGavrielatos said he was “speechless” that students received the jab while most teachers were still waiting. https://t.co/6dh5wIrOus
— Teachers Federation (@TeachersFed) July 6, 2021
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