First Aussie vaccinated against COVID-19 confuses local authorities
By Gong Zhe
Screenshot from 9News

Screenshot from 9News

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the world, some people got the privilege to receive a vaccine that will probably turn a human immune to the deadly coronavirus.

Rochelle Crossley, a flight attendant, working in the UAE, is reportedly the first Australian to be vaccinated, but it's not completely good news.

When she arrived at Sydney airport last week, local health authorities told her the vaccine she received is not valid.

"They looked at me like I was the one making a mistake," she told local news outlet 9News. "They said you know there is no vaccine."

For a moment, one of the nurses at the airport thought Rochelle might have mistaken a flu vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccine, she said in a video interview.

But the fact is, there are many vaccines out there in the world being tested for the final release. Rochelle received one of them – the one that's made by a Chinese company Sinopharm.

"The fear of getting the virus outweighed the fear of having the vaccination," she explained her intention of getting vaccinated to 9News.

The Sinopharm vaccine is now being tested in the UAE, with 30,000 people injected, including the country's prime minister.

After negotiating with health authorities, Rochelle was put in a "health hotel" and then transferred to normal quarantine with her twin daughters and other family members.