Orange residents have begun receiving text messages stating their pre-booked COVID-19 Pfizer vaccinations are being postponed for several weeks to help HSC students in Sydney.
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The texts from NSW Health state the residents will be contacted again "in the coming weeks to re-book a new appointment for a later date".
The Western NSW Local Health Department said it could not say how long the vaccinations would be delayed or how many people were affected.
Pfizer vaccines are being redirected from NSW Health clinics across the state
- NSW Health statement
It also could not say whether the affected people would be given any priority in future booking.
"Pfizer vaccines are being redirected from NSW Health clinics across the state to assist in vaccinating Year 12 students so they can return to school ahead of their HSC," it said.
The WNSWLHD also said it could not provide information about how many people in Orange had been vaccinated.
A NSW Health statement said the action was needed to help curb the outbreak in city areas.
"As part of its pandemic response, NSW Health is taking this important temporary measure to also give us the best chance of containing the current outbreak in Greater Sydney as quickly as possible," it said.
A further 207 new cases of COVID-19, and the 15th death, were reported in NSW on Monday with 72 people being infectious in the community.
The Central West has one active case of COVID-19, a security guard at the Nestles' factory at Blayney. The WNSWLHD has said that person was receiving "medical and clinical support".
NSW Health said the postponements covered people seeking their first dose of vaccine.
"Anyone who has had their first dose already or those in priority groups 1A and 1B will not have their bookings rescheduled," it said.
"GPs continue to supply Pfizer vaccinations in regional NSW, and their supplies from the federal government are unaffected by this reallocation," the statement said.
It said the AstraZeneca vaccine was still available from doctors, NSW Health clinics and pharmacies.
"The NSW government has asked the federal government to facilitate more pharmacies in regional and rural areas delivering the COVID-19 vaccines.
"Public health advice, based on the latest information from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, now recommends that all individuals aged 18 years and over in NSW, including adults under 60 years of age, should consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine, including AstraZeneca."
Member for Orange Phil Donato has started a petition in protest against the redirection of the Pfizer vaccine.
"Our limited Pfizer supplies are still needed out here where many people await their first dose, just as they need them in Sydney," he wrote in a letter to the editor.
Traces of COVID were found in sewage at Molong last Friday.
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