Queensland’s community vaccination hubs delivered more than 17,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to aged care and disability workers, and eligible Queenslanders aged over 40, on the weekend.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said 17,032 vaccine doses were administered across the state, exceeding a target of 15,000 doses.
“It is going gangbusters, we’re so thrilled,” she told ABC Radio Brisbane.
The release of the figures came as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her deputy Steven Miles received their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine ahead of a trip to Tokyo as part of the Brisbane bid for the 2032 games.
Ms D’Ath said Queensland was now receiving about 50,000 doses of Pfizer weekly from the federal government, creating certainty around supply and allowing the state to establish the community vaccine hubs.
“To get [a delivery], and sometimes it would arrive early and we’d be told ‘that’s all you’re getting for three weeks’ … now we’re getting consistency,” she said.
Ms D’Ath said in total, 63,272 doses of vaccine were administered across last week in Queensland.
The state is now redirecting AstraZeneca vaccination deliveries to GPs specifically for eligible residents aged over 50, she said.
Tweet from @AnnastaciaMP
No-shows left doses for walk-ins
Three south-east Queensland community vaccine hubs at Logan Entertainment Centre, Springfield Tower and Rocklea Showgrounds vaccinated hundreds of people over Saturday and Sunday.
Some people at the Springfield Tower hub told ABC Radio Brisbane they had simply walked in after driving past and seeing no queues on Sunday morning.
Queensland Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy, who was put in charge of Queensland’s vaccine rollout on Friday, told ABC Radio Brisbane most of those who were vaccinated had pre-booked, but some walk-ins were accepted.
“If we had people who didn’t turn up for bookings, we did accept [walk-ins] because we didn’t want to waste vaccines,” he said.
Ms D’Ath said the health department preferred people book in to ensure vaccine was used effectively and while she was not opposed to people taking their chances to get the Pfizer vaccine as a walk-in they might not always be lucky.
“A lot of these sites around Brisbane were fully booked, 100 per cent booked, so do the right thing by those people, they’ve gone online, they’ve booked a time … they will get priority,” she said.
“If you want to line up without a booking, then you might not get a vaccine.”
While Rocklea Showgrounds and Springfield Tower remain open as community vaccination sites on Monday morning, Acting Deputy Commissioner Chelepy said Logan Entertainment Centre would be closed due to prior event bookings.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Chelepy urged eligible Queenslanders to continue booking in for vaccinations in the coming days and weeks to ensure community vaccination hubs could order the necessary amount of vaccine and not have any go to waste.
He said vaccination appointment bookings for south-east Queensland were higher than in regional areas, and urged people to make a booking on the Queensland Health website if eligible.
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