New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard has snapped at a reporter after being asked how 163 elite private school students were mistakenly given the in-demand Pfizer jab.
St Joseph's College at Sydney's affluent Hunter's Hill confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday the Year 12 students were vaccinated in May, as millions of more vulnerable Aussies are forced to wait until the final quarter of this year.
The blunder sparked nationwide, but Mr Hazzard fired back on Wednesday, shooting down suggestions from a reporter that NSW Health should be embarrassed.
'What I find more embarrassing is that you would make that sort of question and accusation against frontline health staff who work their butts off and will have tomorrow achieved one million vaccinations in arms,' he told reporters.
St Joseph's College at Hunter's Hill, Australia's largest boarding school for boys, confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday that 160 of its Year 12 students received the vaccine in May - despite the vaccine not being officially available to under-40s
When questioned about the blunder on Wednesday, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told a reporter the error was marginal compared to the amount of successful vaccines administered across the state
'The school intended it well. There was a mistake and so what?
'It’s happened, out of a million vaccinations, move on.'
Dr Teresa Anderson, Chief Executive of Sydney Local Health District which falls under NSW Health, said the jabs had been intended to vaccinate only Aboriginal students at the school.
Under eligibility guidelines, Indigenous Australians aged 16 to 49 are eligible for the jab which is in short supply nationwide.
'It was agreed that the Aboriginal students would be vaccinated through the state health system at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's vaccination hub,' Dr Anderson said in a statement.
'Through an error, the wider group of boarders in Year 12, a total of 163 students, were also vaccinated. Sydney Local Health District apologises for this error.'
The school's headmaster Ross Tarlinton confirmed the school approached health authorities to enquire about vaccination for students.
'We have a large number of boys who live in a residential community, which includes boys from rural, remote and indigenous communities,' he said in a statement.
The revelation came after the desperate family of a 90-year-old woman in a nursing home said they had tried and failed to get their mum the jab.
Australians have been waiting in long queues to receive Covid vaccines, but the Year 12 students from an elite Sydney boys' school was bussed to a NSW Health venue to receive Pfizer jabs nearly two months ago
Sue Halford's 90-year-old mother Barbara resides in a nursing home and is still yet to be vaccinated, after being told she may have to wait until September.
'She's waiting and I really think she needs to get her shot as a priority group 1A, 90-year-old in aged care, she really should have got her shot yesterday,' Ms Halford told A Current Affair.
Due to medical concerns, Barbara requires the Pfizer jab but with stock in short supply due to the federal government's bungled vaccine rollout, it meant she may have to wait until the final quarter of the year.
'I know it's supposed to be coming September 1, but there's still how long until then? So it needed to happen yesterday,' Ms Halford said.
Despite the apparent shortage, NSW Health and Sydney Local Area Health District responded to the school's request and arranged vaccinations at an approved site.
Mr Tarlinton pointed out the school, which charges $35,800 for day students, and $50,000 for boarders, does not decide who gets what vaccine.
Sue Halford's 90-year-old mother Barbara resides in a nursing home and is still yet to be vaccinated (pictured together) due to a shortage of Pfizer jabs
'Acknowledging that the college does not determine
