The pleas would not be so "galling" for many people in the Hunter and Central Coast had the Ministry of Health not just cancelled thousands of vaccination appointments to redirect the region's Pfizer vaccines to students in Sydney's hotspots, Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said.

The Newcastle Herald understands about 5500 Pfizer doses will be diverted from Belmont's mass vaccination hub to Year 12 students in Sydney's eight local government areas of concern - with another 34,500 doses to come from "almost every" rural and regional health district across the state.

Prior to this, the Belmont hub was not accepting new appointments beyond October.

People living on the Central Coast - which has been locked down for the past six weeks because it is considered part of "Greater Sydney" - have also had their appointments cancelled; prompting Member for Wyong, David Harris, to question why they were being asked to do something at the same time the government withdrew their ability to do it.

"We missed out on getting a mass vaccination hub," Mr Harris said. "We've now lost Pfizer. Our waiting lists to see GPs for AstraZeneca are up to 60 days. You tell us our way out of lockdowns is to get vaccinated, and yet we can't get vaccinated."

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has repeatedly said that any adult can now receive the AstraZeneca vaccine - previously only recommended for people 60 and over. But in the Hunter, getting an AstraZeneca vaccine is easier said than done.

While the Belmont hub will begin offering AstraZeneca in "coming weeks", the availability of AstraZeneca appointments at general practices varies from a "handful" this week to anywhere between five, seven and nine-week waiting times.

Hunter GP Craig Richards is running another mass AstraZeneca clinic at Maitland Showground on Tuesday - having been surprised by the interest and "unmet demand" for the vaccine in the Hunter.

The region's community pharmacies are unlikely to be onboarded to deliver the AstraZeneca vaccine until later this month, and even then, they will only be able to offer it to people 40 and above, unless the region becomes a hotspot.

Many Hunter GPs, concerned about proving informed consent should a patient have an adverse reaction to the vaccine, have stuck with the original ATAGI advice - that Pfizer is preferred for people under 60 - and ruled out vaccinating anyone younger until the risk ratio in the Hunter changes.

Others have only had the supplies and resources to vaccinate their own patients. Some GPs have begun receiving Pfizer vaccines, but the majority are sticking to vaccinating existing patients until more supplies are secured.

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"Can I stress that August is the month where all of us should all come forward and get vaccinated," Ms Berejiklian said on Monday.

"It will be a combination of seeing where the case numbers are in a month's time, as well as the rate of vaccination, that determines what August 29 looks like.

"I have been saying for some months that 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated will get us freedoms beyond no more lockdowns. That's 10 million jabs.

"But clearly when we get to 5 million jabs, or when we get to 9.2 million jabs... we'll be able to have a bit more freedom.

"It's really in our hands."

NSW Health has said Pfizer vaccines have been redirected to HSC students from almost every rural and regional local health district in the state. As the state recorded 207 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, there were still 72 people in the community for part or all of their infectious period. The isolation status of another 46 cases remained under investigation.

The Premier has advised people to consider getting the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the scarcity of Pfizer supplies.

The region's MPs have been inundated with calls, messages and emails from people in priority groups 1a and 1b whose vaccination appointments had been cancelled via text message over the weekend. People in 1b whose second doses were "unintentionally" cancelled said there had been no response from the email address provided to correct the error on Monday, and there was a 50-minute wait on the phone number provided.

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said what played out over the weekend was what they had been told would not happen.

"Hunter New England Health has said its system wasn't perfect and that there were mistakes - but now people have to go to the effort of emailing and hopefully getting a response to re-book," she said. "People are hearing what the Premier is saying.

"But it is hard to hear 'Everybody should get vaccinated' when they just can't.

"Urging everyone to get vaccinated when, over the weekend, they have cancelled thousands of people's vaccination appointments... It is galling. It feels like the Premier is only speaking to Sydney. We have had trouble getting access to any vaccines in the first place, and now people have had their appointments cancelled."

Ms Washington said her electorate felt particularly "vulnerable" due to their proximity to Sydney, the loopholes in the health orders that people were exploiting, and their aging population.

"If COVID were to come here, it would be horrific."

Ms Washington said the scarcity of vaccines was due to a failed federal rollout.

"That has led to a decision being made that has been botched in its implementation, and people are rightfully upset and frustrated," she said.

"If you are someone that requires Pfizer, there is no timeline on this anymore.

"Everyone just wants to do the right thing. I don't think there is much vaccine hesitancy going on. It is the vaccine scarcity that is the problem."

If you have been trying to get an AstraZeneca booking at a local GP, try hotdoc.com.au and the Eligibility Checker.

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