Nicole Sun said she felt like the "unluckiest person in the world" when she realised the three vaccine shots she had received were not approved by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
After two years of studying online, the Chinese international student was "devastated" as her friends with approved vaccinations travelled abroad.
The long-awaited opening of Australia's border to international students came on December 15, but those who received non-TGA-approved vaccines remain stranded overseas.
Determined to find a way out of the situation, Ms Sun asked around and read widely until she found a solution.
"I found out that I could get vaccinated again by travelling to another province," the UNSW student said.
According to the National Health Commission of China, individuals should only receive booster shots of the same brand as the initial vaccine shots.
However, vaccination records are not shared across all provinces in China.
"I checked the health app of another province and found my vaccination records didn't show up in the system, so I thought this method could work," Ms Sun said.
"In that dire situation, the only thought on my mind was 'I don't want to graduate in my room'.
"I researched and asked around, there were no adverse health effects from all the cases I talked to … so I decided to take the risk."
Despite opposition from her parents, Ms Sun travelled to another province and received two more shots, this time of Sinovac, a vaccine approved by the TGA.
Ms Sun now has five vaccine shots listed on her International Travel Health Certificate, three doses of Zhifei Longcom and two of Sinovac.
Warnings over extra shots
Monash University PhD student Devin Li shares a similar experience to Ms Sun.
He's now received three shots of Zhifei and two of Sinopharm.
Mr Li said initially he was worried about the health consequences, as Zhifei and Sinopharm are produced in different ways.
"I asked a Center of Disease Control [in China], they said currently there aren't any experiments on whether mixing these two vaccines was safe or not, and suggested not to do this," he said.
"However, some of my friends in the UK received three doses in China and got two extra Pfizer shots when they arrived in the UK and felt OK, so I decided to do it anyway."
Dr Emily Edwards, an immunologist at Monash University, said getting extra vaccines could bring potential risks such as "over activating the immune system" or "exhausting the cells that are important for controlling the virus".
"Regarding mixing vaccines, we are already doing that in Australia," she said.
"There are actually studies advocating that mixing vaccines may drive better immune responses."
But Dr Edwards said the timing between vaccine doses was important.
"You wouldn't want to get them too close. Currently, the recommendation in Australia is three months," she said.
"You always need to talk to your health professionals before you do anything like this.
"There are many factors that play into it, such as age and medical conditions."
Approved vaccines not always easy to come by
But crossing provinces to get extra vaccines may soon be off the table anyway.
China's National Health Commission is currently aggregating vaccine records across the country.
"The policies are tightening now," Ms Sun said.
"I've heard from others that when they went to another province, health workers there could see their vaccine records and didn't give them the extra shots."
Currently, the TGA only recognises two of the six vaccines approved for use in China.
"I hope that the TGA can accelerate the approval process," Mr Li said.
"It would also be good to conduct experiments on the safety of mixing the vaccines.
"If it is safe, then international students should be allowed to receive booster shots of the approved brand."
University of Melbourne student Xuanning Li said sometimes there was no choice over vaccine types in China, as it often depended on where you lived.
"I am lucky as I was assigned to Sinopharm but I remember when Sinopharm was not yet approved by TGA, I felt frustrated as well," she said.
Ms Li said while she agrees with Australia's policy of only opening to people with approved vaccines, she hoped there would be other ways to solve the issue.
"For example, allowing students to come to Australia and quarantine for 14 days, then get the booster shots," she said.
Flights between China and Australia in short supply
Getting the approved vaccines is one thing, but actually making it to Australia is another.
The number of direct flights between China and Australia has plummeted since the pandemic began.
Today only three airlines are offering such services.
April Lyu was told by China Eastern Airlines earlier this month that her flight from Hangzhou to Sydney had been cancelled.
The 18-year-old is due to start the first year of her food science degree at the University of Sydney.
Despite being excited to start a new chapter in Australia, Ms Lyu said she was also partly relieved that her trip has been delayed
"I'm worried about COVID. My friends and relatives there have been telling me not to come [to Australia] at the moment," she said.
Ms Lyu said she would study online for the first semester and then hopefully make the trip to Australia mid-year.
According to her airline's website, flights to and from Australia are suspended until late March.
"I have three friends who booked the same flight with me," Ms Lyu said.
"Two of them have found other flights to come to Australia in February. The other decided to do the same as me."
A University of Sydney spokesperson said they were aware that "international flights are in high demand and subject to change".
The spokesperson said a NSW government and universities joint program was continuing "to support the return of students, including assisting students to access existing seats on commercial flights into Sydney".
Australia's COVID-19 numbers cause student hesitancy
Masters student Olivia Li booked a flight from Guangzhou to Sydney, which remains on schedule.
But, like Ms Lyu, she's unsure about travelling to Australia at the moment given the current COVID-19 situation.
"It seems the hospitals [in Sydney] are all packed, and medicine and self-testing kits are not in a sufficient supply," she said.
Ms Li said she would happily accept the difficult decision being made for her.
"It would be good to hear my flight is cancelled as well."
The human resources management student said she had studied online for some time now and that more remote learning wasn't such a bad thing.
But her dream to get to Australia before her course ends remains.
