There are signs Marianne's recovery from advanced pancreatic cancer is not going as planned, but the fully vaccinated Victorian woman can not get home for urgent medical appointments.

Her oncologist and gastroenterologist both wrote letters of support to enable her and husband Ross to return home from northern NSW for medical treatment later this month, but their application for an exemption was knocked back.

After enduring Victoria's second-wave lockdown and a year of cancer treatment that stemmed from Marianne's diagnosis in March 2020, the couple decided to visit family in Queensland and NSW a few months ago.

But they were caught out by border changes.

They were "quite stunned" when their request to travel from Tweed Heads to their home in Castlemaine, both of which haven't had a COVID-19 case in more than a year, was rejected.

"A little bit of common sense wouldn't go astray," Ross said.

"We're dealing with people's lives here, not just life or death, but lives and families and all the rest of it."

On Thursday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said he knew there were thousands of Victorians who were struggling to get home, including some with "heartbreaking" stories.

But few exemptions are being granted, and there has been no sign it will become any easier for those stuck in NSW to return home.

As Victorians race to get vaccinated to meet the target set out this week — for 70 per cent of people to have at least one dose by September 23 — fully vaccinated people who have wound up stranded in NSW, many for deeply personal reasons, are growing increasingly desperate to return.

Race against time to make specialist appointments

Marianne said when she got the simple email rejecting their application to re-enter their home state, she was "totally and utterly dismayed".

"Considering the back-up from the doctors, I never expected not to be able to see my own doctors to continue my treatment," she said.

She plans to reapply and hopes that a decision will be made in time for her to get to her first appointment on September 20.

"It's not necessary for people to have that added stress of not being able to see their own doctors and their own team when they've tried to do the right things all along," she said.

"Keeping people out of their own home and states and things is starting to divide the community.

"That's a sad state for Australia to be in, that we're all pitting ourselves against one another."

Afghanistan army veteran relapsing due to stress

Sandra Kerr, 58, and her husband, an Afghanistan war veteran in his early 60s, are also in northern NSW, in Kingscliff.

The Melbourne couple were holidaying in the area and while waiting for their second doses of the vaccine, they were surprised when Victoria declared all of NSW an "extreme risk zone" in late July, which made returning extremely difficult.

"We delayed it to get that second shot, but we probably should have just headed home earlier," Sandra said.

The couple has applied to return home and been knocked back, and the stress of the uncertainty they face has been severely affecting Sandra's husband's mental health.

He served in Afghanistan and has since been diagnosed with and treated for PTSD, anxiety and depression.

The news of the Taliban takeover on top of his inability to return home to his "safe place" have resulted in a situation where he feels his five years of treatment have been undone.

"It was in the documentation that he was a veteran and he was basically being retraumatised, and that it was triggering him," Sandra said.

She said having "no control over so many things" was the hardest part of being stuck.

The couple believe they should be able to return and isolate at home when they return.

"If we're considered such a risk, then that's not really sending the proper message to people to get vaccinated," Sandra said.

On Thursday, Victoria's Health Minister apologised to residents who were still trying to make it home from NSW.

"We've processed thousands of applications with the priority being urgent medical care, end of life visits, family who need to come home for funerals and those kind of things," Mr Foley said.

"Given the demand of people who want to come from an extreme risk zone in NSW into Victoria, we have to make sure that each case is determined on its merits.

"There are some heartbreaking cases, but we are getting our way through them and we will get these Victorians home."

Grey area needed in 'all this black and white'

When his adult son was experiencing a mental health crisis in June, Lawrence, aged 70, did not hesitate to go to his aid.

He caught a flight to Sydney and stayed with his son to support him as he slowly began to recover.

In the meantime, the Delta outbreak in NSW worsened, Victoria had a COVID crisis of its own unfolding and Lawrence's wife, back in Melbourne, developed a serious heart problem that left her hospitalised.

Lawrence, who is fully vaccinated, has spent more than a month having multiple applications to get back home and look after his ill wife knocked back.

He said the situation had left him "extremely upset".

"It just goes on and I'm becoming quite despondent. I'm sort of expecting I'll be lucky to get home by Christmas," he said.

"I just find it so desperate."

He said when he arrived in Sydney there were no travel restrictions in place between the states.

Lawrence has been taking regular tests so that if his application is successful, he can go home as soon as possible.

He said his wife, aged 69, was finding it extremely difficult being alone in Victoria's lockdown while recovering from her time in hospital for atrial fibrillation.

"I'm not mixing with people, we're staying isolated," he said.

"I don't know what more I can do."

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