PEOPLE from the Greater Sydney region have been caught leaving their lockdown and coming to Bathurst to get their COVID-19 vaccination.
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It is just one of several serious issues faced by the city's vaccination hub, which now has security to deal with "unsavory behaviour" by people desperate to get vaccinated.
Western NSW Local Health District chief executive officer Scott McLachlan confirmed on Thursday the Bathurst vaccination hub on William Street had seen people from Greater Sydney turning up to be vaccinated.
Asked if there was a legal loophole which allowed this, he said people were allowed to travel within 50km of their home to be vaccinated.
"Some people are taking a bit of exception to that rule," he said.
"We aren't accepting appointments for people from Greater Sydney but there are ways people are being sneaky, to get around it.
"In a couple of cases it has happened at Bathurst."
Asked what happens when they turn up, Mr McLachlan said his staff "manage the situation".
"We do everything we can to provide vaccinations to everyone in Western NSW.
"If someone turns up from outside the region and we can fit them in (we do) and we have done that on a number of occasions," he said.
"But certainly it's not encouraged, particularly we don't want people from the Greater Sydney region travelling outside and coming into Western NSW so we discourage that wherever possible."
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Mr McLachlan also said after a number of incidents at vaccination hubs across the region, the community needed to "take stock of how we are treating one another".
"We have seen some incredibly unsavory behaviour in the last 24-48 hours, particularly in our vaccination centres," he said.
"I have to say it's some of the most disappointing behaviour I've ever seen or heard of."
Mr McLachlan said there had been incidents at the Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange hubs.
"This is our time for everyone to be patient, show some compassion and understanding and, as a community, we have to go through this together," he said.
"Where we have needed to we have called on additional security and have put that in place from today onwards.
"It's a disappointing step to take but, unfortunately, we're in a situation creating a lot of fear for everyone."
He also thanked frontline staff working in the vaccination and testing clinics, calling them "heroes... in every sense of the word."
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