Rattled Hunter residents battle to find booster shots and rapid antigen tests

As of Tuesday, the double-vaccinated became eligible for their third dose, a timeframe which will be slashed to three months at the end of January.

On January 10, children aged 5-12 also become eligible for their first vaccinations, while those aged 12 and over who are severely immunocompromised are being advised to have their third dose from two months after their second dose.

Meanwhile the heavier reliance now placed on rapid antigen tests has resulted in price-gouging, stockpiling, and extensive - and often fruitless, searches.

Newcastle-based community pharmacist Chelsea Felkai, NSW Branch President of the Pharmaceutical Society, said pharmacists were being inundated with calls from people searching for booster shots and rapid antigen tests.

"When Scott Morrison makes these announcements, like dropping the eligibility from five months to four months, it's a very reactionary process ... we find out at the same time the public finds out and have had very little time to increase supply before wholesalers shut over Christmas," Ms Felkai said.

"We were expecting the peak time more in line with March and April, if it was kept to six months that's where it would sit. They have dropped it just before the Christmas shutdown period, and it has really put a lot of undue pressure on pharmacy at our busiest time of year.

"There are millions who have become eligible overnight and they all want their dose now. It's created a backlog and it's not necessarily helping.

"I have had lots of good pharmacists leave, literally saying they are not going back to the profession. They have walked off the job and they are not coming back, including at least three in Newcastle, so it's quite serious. It feels like a storm that never ends."

There was a steady stream of people at the Belmont vaccination hub on Tuesday as the newly eligible queued up for their booster shot.

Hunter New England Health issued a statement on Tuesday urging those eligible for a booster shot to visit the Belmont hub, confirming that it was well supplied and staffed.

"The team is accommodating all booked appointments and walk-ins," a spokeswoman said.

"A booster dose is the best way people can protect themselves, their loved ones and the community from the ongoing transmission of COVID-19."

Ms Felkai said the supply and demand for rapid antigen tests would sort itself out, but perhaps not until mid to late January.

"The same thing happened with the vaccines themselves," she said. "As we see the PCR tests become more restricted then we need to open up access for people who are lower-socioeconomic, more vulnerable people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There should be a subsidy so they still have access to rapid antigen tests."

Consumers are being encouraged to contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission if they found evidence of price gouging, with reports of a single test costing anything from $12 up to between $50 and $60 by some online retailers.

Ms Felkai said price gouging was "unacceptable" and encouraged people to report it to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

"I have heard examples of price gouging, and that's what it is, and it's not acceptable - every pharmacy I have been in or worked at have not engaged in any of that kind of activity."

Hunter MP Meryl Swanson says everyone should COVID-19 seriously after she became one of the thousands of people in the region to test positive. She says she suffered severe sinus pain, sweats, a cough and extreme fatigue. Are you battling COVID-19 as well? What has your experience been like - the illness itself, the battle for a test, the long wait for results? Share your experience of COVID-19 by completing the form below: