Bendigo general practices have been receiving increased calls from concerned patients following changes to vaccine eligibility.
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It comes after the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to those aged 60 and older.
The change in advice came after a second Australian, a 52-year-old woman, died after developing a rare case of blood clots associated with the vaccine.
Bendigo Primary Care Centre general manager Steve Cooper said the clinic had seen an increased amount of calls Friday morning from patients and expected more in the coming days.
Dr Cooper said there had also been some cancellations of vaccine appointments.,
"If you have had the AstraZeneca vaccine, you can't get the Pfizer for the second."
"The biggest issue we are going to face is that people might not get the second dose of AstraZeneca and they won't be completely immunised.
"It is quite a concern, that means our numbers for full vaccinations won't be completed and herd immunity won't happen. If people don't come back, it's not guaranteed that they will be immune."
Dr Cooper said the vaccine rollout had already caused a strain on resources and yesterday's announcement pushed that even further.
"We were notified yesterday evening that there was a change so we had to bring in staff today and we had to change all of our consent forms," he said.
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"It's so taxing on GPs who now have to explain it all over again to our patients... and build trust."
Dr Cooper said the clinic is potentially looking at not going ahead with new vaccinations as the process was not financially viable.
"There is no incentive for putting on extra staff and we have to do the vaccinations during after hour periods and we have to pay our staff to be here," he said.
"It's not viable for us to keep doing it when we are making a financial loss every weekend."
Dr Cooper worried the change in advice may lead to vaccine hesitancy in the community.
"This puts people on the back foot again," he said.
"People need to listen to their GP, advice being given. It's very rare for blood clots and we have seen minimal in Australia so I think people should heed the advice."
On Friday morning Bendigo Federal MP Lisa Chesters called on the federal government to fix the rollout after advice on the vaccines changed.
"There is mixed messaging and the government has to fix the messaging," she said.
"The announcement yesterday has already created more confusion and people are contacting us saying that they already had AstraZeneca vaccine and if there second shot could be Pfizer.. It's confusing."
The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed they were assessing the implications for the Victorian rollout of the Australian Government's COVID-19 vaccination program.
"There is strong demand for eligible Victorians to be vaccinated and protected against COVID-19," the department said in a statement.
The department said in line with ATAGI's recommendations, any person aged 60 years and over will continue to be offered the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as the preferred vaccine at state vaccination centres.
If you are aged 50-59 years and currently booked to receive your first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine between Thursday June 17 and Sunday June 20, you will be offered the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
People booked to receive their first dose of AstraZeneca from Monday June 21 in the 50-59 age group may be contacted by the Victorian Coronavirus Hotline (1800 675 398) or their health service to offer them a booking for Pfizer.
If you have received your first dose of the vaccine without serious adverse reaction, the government are strongly encouraging residents to receive the second dose as planned.
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