People living in one south-west Sydney suburb have been slugged hundreds of dollars for the Pfizer vaccine as desperation grows among locked down residents in the city.
A number of residents in Sydney's south-west have been forced to pay for their Pfizer vaccination.
A GP clinic in Campsie has charged people registration and consultation fees before even receiving the jab.
One person was not happy she had to pay $250 for the in-demand Pfizer shot at Blessed Health Care.
The Malaysian woman in her 20s - who did not want to be identified - was booked in a couple of months time but had concerns over the increased community transmission in the Canterbury-Bankstown area.
"I wanted to get it quickly, to be safer, so I paid the money," she told AAP in Mandarin.
She is currently living in Australia on a bridging visa and did not have a Medicare card.
She claimed her colleagues have also been through the same process as she went through.
A sign allegedly posted outside the front of the clinic listed the prices for the first and second consultation, with the amount increasing depending on the day.
Weekday consultations with the first vaccination costs $225 and Saturday and Sunday at $250.
Returning for a second jab will cost $80 on a weekday, $100 on Saturday or $120 on Sunday.
The woman was outraged, arguing it "should be free".
Item descriptions are noted next to each consultation as either a "new patient registration fee" or a "Level C Surgery", a Medicare item for a long consultation.
A note at the bottom of the price list said: "The COVID-19 vaccine medication itself is free".
The COVID-19 vaccine is free for everyone living in Australia, including people who do not have a Medicare and regardless of their visa status.
The federal health department's website states consultation appointments for the vaccination is free.
A nurse from one of the two private clinics in Campsie told AAP a person's medical history was needed to be discussed before administering a vaccine and a fee was charged as they don't bulk bill for the consultation.
Dr Ben Ang from Blessed Health Care said he has been inundated by "hundreds and hundreds" of locals "crying out for help" as they could not work out how to navigate English-language websites to book their vaccine.
He has called on the government for extra doses after exhausting his allocation.
Receptionist Sarah - who wished to not pass on her surname - told AAP that anyone who thought they had to pay for the vaccine was mistaken.
"People who do not want to pay fees can go elsewhere, she said.
“We are a private facility and we need to pay our staff."
“If they don’t have Medicare, I cannot provide this facility for free.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce the state's latest COVID-19 case numbers at the daily press conference at 11am.
The state recorded 177 cases of local transmission - a new record for this outbreak - with 46 infectious while in the community.
Join Sky News Australia live for the daily briefing.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiwgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy9jYW1wc2llLXJlc2lkZW50cy1mb3JjZWQtdG8tcGF5LTI1MC1jb25zdWx0YXRpb24tYW5kLXJlZ2lzdHJhdGlvbi1mZWUtZm9yLXBmaXplci1jb3ZpZDE5LXZhY2NpbmUvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS8wMjQyNmYwYmMwYjM2MGQwMDQ5M2UzYTQ2MDAxOWEwZtIBAA?oc=5
2021-07-28 22:52:30Z
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