Aged care Covid crisis: One in four residents of Qld facilities yet to get the booster shot
Worrying new data released on Queensland’s deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic so far has revealed just how few vulnerable aged care residents have received the crucial booster vaccination.
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Nearly one in four Queensland aged care residents eligible for a Covid-19 booster shot are yet to get one new data has revealed, amid the state’s deadliest day of the pandemic.
New federal government data also revealed Queensland has the second lowest aged care Covid-19 vaccination rate in the nation, both in first doses and booster shots.
It comes as Queensland recorded 24 deaths in 24 hours — the state’s highest daily toll during the pandemic.
A total of 325 Queenslanders have died with or due to Covid-19 since borders reopened, with 176 of those deaths among aged care residents.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard asserted it was “difficult to determine” if aged care residents, who have multiple comorbidities, died due to Covid-19 or with it.
A total of 7505 Queensland aged care residents or 23 per cent, of the 32,561 that are eligible, are yet to get their Covid-19 booster shot.
There are 4187 residents or 11 per cent, of the 37,774 who live in aged care in Queensland, yet to get even a single dose of the vaccine.
State authorities, particularly health minister Yvette D’Ath, have been calling on the federal government to release more granular data on the Covid-19 vaccine booster program in aged care — beyond just the percentage of homes visited.
She said she was concerned that not enough people in aged care were getting booster shots, urging relatives to take residents out of homes to get a booster shot if that is an option for them.
“We know boosters make a difference, and sadly we know that aged care residents are making a large number of our deaths from Covid-19 cases,” Ms D'Ath said.
Federal authorities earlier this week confirmed in-reach jab clinics would be sent back into aged care homes in a bid to give those that rejected or were not eligible for a booster dose a second chance to get protected.
It’s understood the program has since begun, starting with the aged care homes with the least number of boosted residents.
National cabinet, at its meeting today, is set to discuss nationally consistent rules on aged care visitation amid Covid-19.
Speaking in Bundaberg yesterday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked the federal government yesterday for sending the Australian Defence Force into aged care homes to ease severe staff shortages.
“This is an issue across Australia in relation to aged care and it‘s great to see that support coming,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Similarly, Ms D’Ath said the state government would be “welcoming” the additional help.
“Our Defence Force are just members of the community … I have no doubt that they will go in and do it in a very compassionate and caring way,” she said.
The state also recorded 6902 new cases overnight while public hospitalisations dropped from 663 to 628, with 44 people in ICU, including 22 on ventilators.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said hospitalisations have continued to decline since in patient beds at public hospitals peaked close to 1000 on January 25.
“What I‘m interested to see is when all hospitals have a single ward where they’re looking after Covid patients,” he said.
Meanwhile, the number of school aged children who tested positive on PCR tests overnight jumped from 313 on Monday to 534 yesterday.
“We don‘t envisage that this jump overnight is directly related to school yet because it’s very, very early days, and these are PCR results, but we’ll continue to report them,” Ms D’Ath said.
Dr Gerrard said it was expected ongoing cases would appear in schools over the coming weeks.
“There was quite substantial transmission in children between 5 and 17 three weeks ago,” he said.
Most of the cases were “very, very mild” according to the CHO, but said children with respiratory problems should continue getting tested.
On Monday afternoon, Queensland finally hit the 90 per cent double dose vaccination mark which it had been crawling towards for weeks.
Dr Gerrard said Queensland had already undergone widespread transmission.
“We think by the end of February it will be somewhere between one to two million Queenslanders who’ve been infected by this virus so far,” he said.
Meanwhile, the healthcare workforce continues to be impacted with 2100 health staff still off work in isolation or quarantine.
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