GPs call police over ‘unruly’ patients wanting Pfizer vax

Dr Ken McCroary says hostile people are coming in off the street in Sydney's hotspots and demanding Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, while AstraZeneca shots go unused.
Dr Ken McCroary
Dr Ken McCroary.

GPs have been forced to call police to help them deal with “unruly” patients who have come into surgeries demanding the Pfizer vaccine, says Dr Ken McCroary who works in one of Sydney’s hotspots.

Dr McCroary, whose Campbelltown practice is located the city’s south-west, says he’s concerned at the growing number of practices reporting abusive, angry patients wanting Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. 

Patients who are ‘walk-ins’ appear to be the biggest problem, with practices forced to call police on several occasions, says Dr McCroary, who is the area representative for the RACGP’s NSWACT Faculty Council.

“People who aren’t even their patients, are coming in off the street, demanding vaccines without appointments or anything, which doesn’t work. We can’t give it to them anyway,” Dr McCroary tells 6minutes.