Teachers are urging the premier to reconsider plans to allow year 12 students to return to face-to-face learning in August, despite a mass vaccination plan for students in hotspot areas.
NSW has set August 16 as the date for a return to the classroom for students completing their final year of high school.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos told AAP he was " deeply concerned" by the safety risk posed by COVID-19 to students and teachers.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian outlined plans on Friday for a stadium in Sydney's west to be converted into a rapid vaccination centre for 20,000 year 12 students.
The Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney's Olympic Park usually plays host to musicians and sporting events, but will instead become a mass vaccination hub from the 9 August.
"There are around 20,000 students and we will be getting them done in five days ... from the Monday to Friday we'll be getting all those jabs in arms of those high school students doing year 12 in those 8 local government areas of concern," the premier told reporters.
Asked whether year 12 teachers will also be vaccinated at the hub, the premier said "there is nothing stopping teachers getting vaccinated now".
"We're calling on anybody over 18 years of age to come forward and get vaccinated. The AstraZeneca is available," she said.
Despite the vaccination plans, Mr Gavrielatos told AAP: "There's still more than two weeks to go before the 16th of August... we're asking the premier to reconsider her decision to allow year 12 to return to face-to-face teaching with such a high number of infectious cases in the community."
A total of 170 new locally acquired cases were recorded in NSW on Friday, with at least 52 infectious while in the community.
Mr Gavrielatos said last year students began returning to the classroom when there were only five local transmitted cases, and the health and safety of teachers and students is paramount.
The Teachers Federation will continue to monitor the advice over the course of the next week and will respond accordingly, he said.
Up to 40,000 Pfizer doses are being redirected to vaccinate students in virus-hit areas of Sydney.
Two western NSW health districts - serving communities including Orange, Broken Hill, and Bourke - have confirmed some of their Pfizer vaccine supply will be temporarily diverted to Sydney.
The move, foreshadowed by the premier on Wednesday, means some in the regions will have their first dose of Pfizer delayed for weeks.
The announcement has been met with hostility by Murray MP Helen Dalton.
"It is absolutely outrageous that the most Indigenous district in NSW is having to suspend their bookings so that vaccines can be sent to Sydney," the Shooters Fishers and Farmers member told AAP.
"Far West NSW have the worst health outcomes in the state. That's because the NSW Government continue to treat them like second class citizens."
Australian Associated Press
